“He’s in charge of that right butt cheek,” Eli Manning says.
It’s Sunday afternoon of Week 2, a little more than 24 hours before the Manning brothers are on the air, and a flurry of voice memos lights up Peyton’s phone.
“The RPOs all look bad, Peyt.”
“I don’t think Kirk was under center for one play, which is strange.”
The voice memos have a backstory: A few years ago, while he was watching a Broncos game, Peyton had to sneak into a bathroom at Empower Field in Denver after a coach called him later than expected. He found himself scribbling notes on a pad of paper, barely able to make out the answers. He decided that day: voice memos from here on out. So this is what the prep looks like — er, sounds like — for a broadcast that’ll earn 1.34 million viewers Monday night: two brothers sending a dozen memos back and forth, sharing every bit of intel they gather during the week.
Like, in this instance, which of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ assets running back Saquon Barkley is responsible for shoving during the Tush Push.
“Got your message, E, and I agree, using the silent count at home is just demoralizing,” Peyton says in another voice memo addressing Kirk Cousins and the Falcons’ offense. “My first playoff game with the Colts we had to use the silent count at home … it was a body blow.”
“Play 51,” he says in another, sighing as he watches a replay of Hurts throwing an interception. “Just a total force. Check it down!”
It’s Year 4 of the “ManningCast,” ESPN’s alternative “Monday Night Football” broadcast that features three hours of brotherly banter with A-list guests and high-level scheme talk spliced in between. As the Eagles hosted the Atlanta Falcons, Peyton and Eli gave The Athletic access to a full week behind the scenes, starting with the voice memos and ending with live broadcasts from inside the basement of Eli’s suburban New Jersey home and the garage-turned-studio Peyton shoots from in Denver.
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