DENVER — Peyton Manning was honored for his community work at a banquet Wednesday night. Ahead of the event, he was asked if he had any desire to run an NFL franchise.
He’d rather stick to his “Monday Night Football” Manningcast with brother Eli that just won its second Sports Emmy award.
“Eli and I really have a lot of fun doing the show. I think a big reason for that is I do it from here in Denver and he does it from New Jersey,” Manning said. “I think we’re very happy about being able to do it and be home on the weekends, and be home 10 minutes after the show.”
Manning said the livecast allows the brothers, both of them former quarterbacks with a pair of Super Bowl wins apiece, to “still be a part of our kids’ lives on the weekend.”
The 48-year-old Manning and his wife have 13-year-old twins, Marshall and Mosley.
“Mosley plays volleyball, and I go to her games from like 4 to 5 on Mondays, and I drive over to my buddy’s garage and get to call a ‘Monday Night Football’ game,” Manning said. “It doesn’t really make a lot of sense. And for some reason they’ve renewed us to do it.
“So, yeah, and this year we’re going to add Bill Belichick. Now, explain that! I was kind of wondering if I’ve been hit in the head too many times,” cracked Manning, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021. “He’s being courted by the other networks, and I was recruiting a guy that pretty much made a lot of my life miserable.”
Manning said he’s eager to see what defensive insights the former New England Patriots coach, who led that team to six Super Bowl titles, will bring to the Manningcast.
“To have that different perspective on every game that Eli and I are doing this year I think will be awesome,” Manning said.
Manning made his comments to reporters ahead of receiving the 2024 Community Enrichment Award from the Mizel Institute in Denver.
“I’m not sure I’m completely worthy, but community service is something that’s always been important to me,” Manning said, adding he was following in his father Archie’s footsteps and heeding the advice of his former head coach with the Indianapolis Colts, Tony Dungy, in being involved in the community. Archie was also an NFL quarterback, playing for the New Orleans Saints, Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings.
Manning’s philanthropic endeavors include his Peyback Foundation, which focuses on helping disadvantaged youth.
He said community service was already important to him during his NFL career — he played for the Colts from 1998 to 2011 and was with the Denver Broncos from 2012 to 2015 — and “once you retire, you have more time to do it. So, I’ve just really enjoyed being a part of this community for the last 12 years, and I think we’re here for the long haul.”
The same seems to be true with his career focus since his playing days ended.
As Manning headed into retirement a month after being named Super Bowl 50 MVP in 2016, there was speculation he might follow John Elway’s path from quarterback great to NFL executive. Manning instead has focused on building his Omaha Productions footprint and reiterated he has no plans to join or run a football franchise.
“No, I don’t think that’s anywhere on my radar by any means. But look, I love being an ambassador for the Broncos, for the Colts and the University of Tennessee,” said Manning, who remains involved with the Volunteers and his college alma mater in various ways.
As for the Broncos, he said his key fob at the team’s practice facility still works and that he has enjoyed getting to know the Walton-Penner ownership group that bought the Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust in 2022 for $4.65 billion, a record at the time.
“I take seriously sort of that role of being an ambassador for all the teams that I played for, but living here in Denver maybe even more so,” Manning said, adding he’s “enjoyed getting to know the Penner-Walton family as well … but as far as running the team, I don’t think that’s on my radar anyway.”
The Broncos have rolled through 13 starting quarterbacks since Manning retired, and they’ve yet to return to the playoffs. Coach Sean Payton jettisoned Russell Wilson after their one season together, and the Broncos acquired Zach Wilson from the New York Jets and drafted Bo Nix to compete with journeyman holdover Jarrett Stidham.
“It sounds like they’ve got great competition over there. That’s always good; makes everybody better,” said Manning, who called Payton’s system “extremely quarterback friendly.”
Asked what advice he would have for Nix, Manning said taking one’s lumps as a rookie as he did is the best springboard for a successful career. Manning threw an NFL-record 28 interceptions in 1998, when Indianapolis went 3-13 after drafting him No. 1 overall. The following year, the Colts were 13-3.
“There’s no way that would have happened had I not played and kind of gone through those struggles,” said Manning, who led the Colts to a Super bowl victory to cap the 2006 season.
He said that while the Broncos will obviously “play the best quarterback, but there’s no question, I think any quarterback will tell you, being out there on the field, you just learn more things than you do sitting on a sideline. … Obviously, Sean will make that decision. But I do think experience is your best teacher.”