I will be the first to admit it: I completely missed the boat on Eli Manning’s post-NFL life.
After spending three seasons reporting on him (2015-17) as a Giants beat writer, I assumed Manning would more or less disappear once he retired. Not that I knew him terribly well — feel, if any, people who are not family members or close friends/former teammates can claim they do with any legitimacy. But I just never got the feeling he would want to be bothered with being an active celebrity once his playing days were over, much less actively pursue it the way his brother Peyton seemed inclined to do.
I just figured Manning would be a dad, do some commercials — the Mannings have made an art form out of generating free money — and occasionally pop up for a charity event or an interview. Maybe at some point ESPN would talk him into being on a studio desk for the national title game or something.
Well, I was wrong. Manning is literally everywhere. And he is really good at making hilarious content. Case in point, his latest edition of “Eli’s Places” for ESPN+, which you can watch above.
My only gripe: Stop trying to make guests a thing on the Manningcast. It’s almost always awkward or a technological fail. We just need the brothers talking ball.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch.
