Best of the Bus: Peyton Manning On Facing Tom Brady & His Greatest NFL Memories

Summary

Bussin' With The Boys: Best of the Bus – Peyton Manning On Facing Tom Brady & His Greatest NFL Memories

Release Date: August 9, 2025

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Introduction

In this standout episode of Bussin’ With The Boys, titled “Best of the Bus: Peyton Manning On Facing Tom Brady & His Greatest NFL Memories”, host Taylor Lewan sits down with NFL legend Eli Manning. The conversation offers an intimate glimpse into Eli’s illustrious career, his encounters with Tom Brady, and his reflections on the moments that defined his time in professional football. The episode seamlessly blends heartfelt memories with engaging anecdotes, providing both avid fans and casual listeners with a comprehensive understanding of Eli Manning’s journey.

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Choosing Tennessee Over Ole Miss

Eli Manning opens the discussion by delving into his crucial decision to attend the University of Tennessee instead of following in his father’s footsteps to Ole Miss. He recounts the rigorous recruiting process in 1994, highlighting the pivotal moment when a handwritten letter from Bobby Bowden at Florida State sparked his awareness of opportunities beyond his familiar local colleges.

“I grew up in New Orleans. Of course, you know, LSU was the top school, but Ole Miss were the games we went to on the weekends… my dad said, 'You’re 18 years old. You’re old enough to make your own decision. I’ll support you wherever you go.'”
— Eli Manning, [04:12]

Eli emphasizes the importance of parental support in making such a significant life choice, reflecting on how his parents’ encouragement allowed him to pursue what felt right for him rather than adhering to family expectations.

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Rookie Struggles and Growth

Transitioning to his NFL career, Eli candidly discusses his challenging rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts, marked by a disheartening 3-13 record. He attributes his resilience and eventual improvement to the four extra years he spent in college, which provided him with the mental fortitude needed to navigate the pressures of professional football.

“I kind of gave all that credit to staying four years in college. And so it was the right decision for me.”
— Eli Manning, [07:32]

Eli underscores the value of perseverance and learning from early setbacks, highlighting how these experiences shaped his approach to succeeding in the NFL.

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The Manning-Brady Rivalry

A significant portion of the episode focuses on the legendary rivalry between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Eli shares his personal insights into the competitive dynamics between the two quarterbacks and the formidable presence of Bill Belichick's Patriots.

“It was Tom, it was Belichick, it was defense, it was the whole thing. It was just this triple-headed monster.”
— Eli Manning, [19:33]

Eli elaborates on the strategic battles and psychological warfare that defined matchups against Brady and the Patriots, emphasizing the relentless drive and tactical adjustments required to contend with such a dominant team.

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Leadership and Team Dynamics

Eli discusses his leadership philosophy, emphasizing the importance of earning the respect of teammates and maintaining accountability on the field. He shares anecdotes about enforcing discipline within the team, such as holding players accountable for mental errors rather than physical mistakes.

“When you're 22 years old as a quarterback, you got 37, 38-year-old grown adults in that huddle with you.”
— Eli Manning, [15:25]

He reflects on how these experiences honed his ability to lead effectively, balancing authority with camaraderie to foster a cohesive and motivated team environment.

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Life After Football: Building Omaha Productions

Eli transitions into discussing his post-football endeavors, particularly his role in building Omaha Productions and expanding the Manning Cast. He highlights the significance of preserving his and Peyton’s legacies through media, ensuring that their contributions to the sport are celebrated and remembered.

“After I got drafted by the Colts, I was moving out of my college apartment… It's been sitting here for like 20 years and opened this kind of hotel bar.”
— Eli Manning, [02:20]

Eli emphasizes the importance of creating platforms that honor the stories and impacts of NFL players, blending his passion for football with entrepreneurial ventures.

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Pranks and Locker Room Stories

Adding a lighter dimension to the episode, Eli recounts various locker room pranks that fostered camaraderie and lightened the intense atmosphere of professional sports. Stories include moving golf carts into a pond and altering security guards’ photos, showcasing the playful side of team dynamics.

“We tried to get those moved into the pond… It was a little pond in the middle of the training camp and had a little platform out there.”
— Eli Manning, [43:00]

These anecdotes illustrate the bonds formed off the field and the importance of maintaining a fun and supportive team culture.

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Mentorship and Relationship with Nephew

Eli touches upon his mentorship role with his nephew, who aspires to follow in his and Peyton’s footsteps. He discusses the balance between providing guidance and allowing young players to carve out their own paths, emphasizing the significance of support and encouragement.

“You go to voice memos and finish the play’s details… send a seven-minute voice memo response about the two minute.”
— Eli Manning, [24:42]

Eli’s approach highlights the blend of practical advice and personal support that can help upcoming players navigate the complexities of the NFL.

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Legacy and Reflections

Towards the end of the episode, Eli reflects on his legacy and the realization of his own mortality in the sport. He shares how recognizing the physical and mental changes influenced his decision to retire on his own terms, valuing relationships and personal well-being over prolonged competition.

“I could do it on my terms, I was at peace with it. And I was thankful for the time I got to play.”
— Eli Manning, [32:48]

Eli’s reflections offer a poignant conclusion to the conversation, underscoring the profound personal growth and gratitude that define his journey.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• “When you're 22 years old as a quarterback, you got 37, 38-year-old grown adults in that huddle with you.”
  — Eli Manning, [15:25]

• “It was Tom, it was Belichick, it was defense, it was the whole thing. It was just this triple-headed monster.”
  — Eli Manning, [19:33]

• “I kind of gave all that credit to staying four years in college. And so it was the right decision for me.”
  — Eli Manning, [07:32]

• “I could do it on my terms, I was at peace with it. And I was thankful for the time I got to play.”
  — Eli Manning, [32:48]

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Engaging Highlights

Throughout the episode, Eli Manning’s candid storytelling provides a rare and intimate look into the life of an NFL quarterback. From the pressures of early career struggles to the strategic mind games against one of the greatest rivals, Tom Brady, Eli’s narratives are both insightful and inspiring. His reflections on leadership offer valuable lessons on earning respect and maintaining team cohesion, while his post-retirement ventures demonstrate a commitment to preserving and celebrating football legacies.

Moreover, the inclusion of locker room anecdotes and pranks adds a relatable and humorous layer to Eli’s persona, showcasing the importance of camaraderie in high-stakes environments. His mentorship discussions highlight the ongoing impact he seeks to have on the next generation of players, embodying the spirit of giving back and fostering growth within the sport.

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Conclusion

Best of the Bus: Peyton Manning On Facing Tom Brady & His Greatest NFL Memories stands out as a must-listen episode for fans eager to delve deeper into Eli Manning’s career and personal experiences. Through a blend of heartfelt reflections, strategic insights, and entertaining stories, Eli paints a comprehensive picture of what it takes to succeed and lead in the demanding world of professional football. The episode not only honors Eli’s legacy but also provides inspiration and lessons for aspiring athletes and enthusiasts alike.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content sections present in the transcript have been excluded to maintain the focus on the substantive discussions between Eli Manning and the hosts.

Transcript

[Peyton Manning]

You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com foreign.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to Deals time where you can enjoy storewide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions.

[Eli Manning]

Apply.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway for more details.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.

[Eli Manning]

Now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited.

[Eli Manning]

Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial.

[Eli Manning]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Peyton Manning]

Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy taxes and fees extra.

[Ryan Reynolds]

See mintmobile.com boys on this best of the Bus episode, the Sheriff himself, Peyton Manning, invited us down to Saloon 16 in Knoxville for an all timer. We got to talk about what it was like growing up a Manning, why he chose Tennessee over Ole Miss, and how Archie helped shape his view of leadership. Peyton also gives some insight in his life after football, building Omaha Productions and turning the Manning cast into a much watched tv. And yes, if you are wondering, we get into the prank wars between him and his brother Eli. Boys, this one's special. Tap in, enjoy the ride, let's have a good day. And while you're here, subscribe Unsubscribe Resubscribe.

[Taylor Lewan]

One of our biggest guests we've ever had.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No question about it.

[Taylor Lewan]

Maybe the biggest. Although Dale Earnhardt Jr. That was a big one. Yeah, that's a big one. Love Junior, but Peyton Manning, welcome to Busting with the Boy.

[Eli Manning]

Thank you all for having me. Appreciate that. Honored, very honored.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Kick us off brother.

[Taylor Lewan]

Walking in this room like honestly, it's a rhetorical question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. Did you ever think that you would leave a legacy like this? Because, like, you come from a football family, like, you're growing up, you have all the footage where you're playing in the backyard, stuff that, like, when I'm young and I'm watching you get, you and your brother get talked about in Archie to where you see all the footage and you just know that little kid in you that loves the game so much and making such an impact that you've made on this game. Like, do you ever just sit there and, like, try to take a moment to take it in?

[Eli Manning]

I'm very grateful and honored for the teams and organizations that I was a part of, but I cherish my four years here at Tennessee. And. No, I mean, you have no idea that you're going to have this connection and relationship with the university 30 years after I came here back in 1994. But I love coming back. I stayed four years in college. Will. I think people here in Knoxville, in Tennessee, probably remember that more than anything, more than a throw or a touchdown, that I turned the NFL down for a year to stay one more year in college, which spoke a lot about how much I love the university and the whole school and the whole place in order to stay here. So it's fun to come back. I love coming back to games and. Yeah, this place. After I got drafted by the Colts, I was moving out of my college apartment. My mom came up, and basically we moved all of my college stuff, just put them into, like, a storage unit and just. It's been sitting here for, like, 20 years and opened this kind of hotel bar. And I said, I. I got a bunch of. My mom kind of thinks it's junk. It's in this storage unit. Y' all can dig in there. So they went. That's what all this stuff is. That's what my mom thought of this stuff. It was all basically garbage. But anyway, it's fun to come back.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's awesome. With choosing Tennessee. Like, your old man obviously went to Ole Miss. What was your recruiting process like way back in 94?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, that was hard. I mean, for years, Taylor, I thought Ole Miss was the only school that ever existed. Right. I grew up in New Orleans. Of course, you know, LSU was the. Probably the top school in the state, but Ole Miss were the games we went to on the weekends. And then all of a sudden, you're a junior in high school and you start getting recruited by other schools. And I really didn't know how serious it was up until I got my first handwritten letter from Bobby Bowden at Florida State. And I guess I'd heard enough about recruiting. There was a lot of form letters, the type letters. But you got a handwritten letter. I mean, I checked it. It smeared. I mean, it was legitimate handwritten letter by Bobby Bowden. I was like, okay. I figured if he's writing me a handwritten letter telling me he's going to recruit me, maybe there are some other schools out there that are interested. And that's when I started kind of looking around, I guess, opening my eyes up a little bit, and had a great visit here to Tennessee. It was snowing. Didn't get to really see the stadium in its glorious view, but met a lot of good people. And my brother Cooper went to Ole Miss on scholarship. Taylor had a neck injury, had to stop playing. And he was in the right school for him if football didn't work out. And that's kind of when I said, that's really how you should choose a school. If I get hurt the first day, would I be happy in the school? And that's kind of how I felt about here at Tennessee, so. And my dad, I give him credit. If he would have said, son, you're going to Ole Miss, that's the end of the story. That would have been it. I would have said, yes, sir, dad. He said, You're 18 years old. You're old enough to make your own decision. I'll support you wherever you go. And he caught a lot of flak from Ole Miss people. Like, how could you not, you know, make your son go to your school? You know, you've kind of let us down. It was. I think. I know he was disappointed in a lot. Of course, when Eli went to Ole Miss, everybody made up. It was all good, overall, good. But I respect my dad for letting me make that decision. And, you know, I think when you make those decisions, it's kind of. You kind of make it the right decision after the fact by just going all in and not looking back. And so it was a hard decision, but I appreciate my parents kind of supporting me in it.

[Taylor Lewan]

Man, I feel like if he was my boy, he'd be.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He's a cornholes.

[Taylor Lewan]

Not to mention, he did come back his senior year, and ultimately the season didn't go. It didn't end the way you wanted it to.

[Eli Manning]

Well, look, I mean, was it like.

[Taylor Lewan]

40 something to 17 Nebraska?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, I forgot about that game. There's no. There's none of those pictures in here.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, I took those out.

[Eli Manning]

It's not just because you're here. Yeah. When you come back, I mean, you sign up for all of it. Right. I mean, you sign up for it to be glorious and to go undefeated and all that. Obviously, if I would have gotten injured, you know, I was. I was okay with that. I just. I felt like I'd rushed my first three years in college. I was always running the class, running to do interviews, and I didn't want to be my age now, 48 years old and kind of wondering, what was college even like, I don't remember anything about college. My senior year, I slowed down. I'd already graduated. I got more mentally stronger. My rookie year with the Colts was a struggle. Right. We only won three and 13, 28 picks. I don't think I would have handled that had I not stayed four years in college. Right. That's the kind of season that can kind of break you. But I kind of said, you know, I'm actually doing some decent things. We're not winning any games. And we went 13 and 3 my second year. I gave all that credit to staying four years in college. And so it was the right decision for me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Now, did you come to that pro. Come to that decision on your own, or was that sitting down and talking to your dad, talking to the people you love, being like, what should I do?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, it's funny, it's a great question because my dad was always one of those guys that said, hey, ask some different people some questions. Like, call some people that have had this decision. So he kind of formed a list, and I guess he. I don't know how, like, somehow he helped me get some phone numbers. So I called Troy Aikman, who stayed four years in college. He said he really wanted to be the first pick in the draft. That was important to him and he was. Drew Bledsoe left as a junior. He said he knew he was going to be the first pick in the draft as a junior. And he was like, I'm ready to go. I'm a totally name drop here. I talked to Michael Jordan, who came out as a junior.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's a good name drop. That's a good name drop.

[Eli Manning]

Yeah. And he just said, look, I thought I was ready. And so I guess I came away with it. That it truly has to be your decision of what you really want. And I probably would have been the first pick as a junior. The jets had the first pick. Interesting to see. Think how things would have turned out. Parcels was the head coach. Belichick was the D coordinator. Does he End up coaching the Patriots and Brady, who knows the butterfly effect. I just. It was the. It was the right decision for me. So eventually you kind of gather information. You sort of had the old yellow notepad out with the pluses and minuses. You look at them, you know, it's kind of 50, 50 either way. You make a decision, you pray about it and then you go with it. And so ended up working out for me.

[Taylor Lewan]

Your first year. You alluded to with the. Is it still the record?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, which. Which is amazing. With 17 games now. Yeah, 17 games. I mean Mahomes is breaking every other record. Why can't we break record?

[Taylor Lewan]

Right. How do you keep.

[Eli Manning]

The problem is when they struggle early with picks that they take them out, leave them in there, let them learn. Right.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, I'm with you.

[Eli Manning]

She's. I'm over it, but our records are.

[Taylor Lewan]

You sound like you're really at peace.

[Eli Manning]

Eli would have broken it easily.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

He only started six games.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is true.

[Eli Manning]

That's great. I'm like, no, no, put him in there. This is my top. I got a good chance this year. We got. We got several.

[Taylor Lewan]

I got a good chance.

[Eli Manning]

I mean, is me going to get the starting job? I mean, I don't want Nick's to do it in Denver, obviously, but if.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He did do it, it'd be like, well, that's a go. It's a go.

[Eli Manning]

As long as he got back next year.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Right? Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So you know, you'll be the first phone call for that rookie who does do it.

[Eli Manning]

Put them all in it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You got to say whoever, whoever beats you got to send a handwritten letter.

[Eli Manning]

You got to be a 16, 17 game starter. So yeah, put all these guys in.

[Taylor Lewan]

There now kind of like as competitors. When you start to. When you have an up and down year like that and then you're 3 and 13, you're like the. You. You are the f. Their first round pick. And you do set the record for interceptions. Like the mental fortitud trying to keep the noise out of your head going into that next year. Because I'm just. I was obviously young then, but now thinking about it, if a rookie quarterback, a rookie quarterback is breaking that record, they're just getting drug across the mud.

[Eli Manning]

It was like. It was tough and I think, look, playing in Indianapolis probably would have been different had I been with the Jets. If I would have been with the jets and a Parcells would have. Would have benched me way before the 16th game. But I don't know, maybe somewhere Indianapolis at the time Being a smaller market, maybe that helped me a little bit. So it was bad. You know, we were playing on the cbs, you know, E. Broadcast team every weekend. There was no Madden, there was no Nance or Summer all or, or Phil Sims coming to Indy, you know, no Monday night tv. So. But yeah, look, it's the kind of season that can sort of can kind of make or break you, right? And I just, we actually, we're in some games, you know, everybody, like, nobody was getting up to play us, right? We played the Niners that year, Steve Young, J. Rice, we played the jets who went to the AFC championship. You know, they had us as a circled win. So we actually had some actually fairly close games. We'd blow it in the end, but that's what I kind of went off of. I'm like, I think I actually can do this if I just don't throw three interceptions in the first half. So it didn't break me and my coaches. Jim Moore, I had a tough coach, but he was loyal. He stuck, he stuck with me. He said, hey, stay in there, keep learning. We're going to fight through this thing. And sure enough, we did. I'm not sure if it's been at the time, it was the biggest turnaround in history from 3 and 13 to 13 and 3. There's no way I do that if I don't play all those games, rookie. So I tell all these college quarterbacks, we were talking earlier about that camp that we have, and I tell all these guys, it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. Don't, don't let a, you know, couple bad seasons, break it right. Just keep learning from it and keep getting better.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

2009, you're playing the Miami Dolphins and Jon Gruden crowns you the sheriff. Now this is kind of just, hey, how cool is that nickname? And also, how long did it take to stick? Because, Sheriff, unless you're writing a movie, there's no cooler nickname to be bestowed on somebody.

[Eli Manning]

I, you know, I never, ever once, if you ever hear me referring to myself as a sheriff, shoot me, please.

[Ryan Reynolds]

To shoot officer of the law.

[Taylor Lewan]

There's no chance I'm the sheriff Peyton Manning.

[Eli Manning]

I've never once texted, hey, you know, Sheriff will be there at 3 o'. Clock. You know, please, my brothers would, would have. Have their way with me. Yeah, Gruden, what was his expression? You know, when, when Peyton comes to town, you know, he lays down the law and he always gets his man. He finds who he's wanting going to get and he gets his man. So Wyatt Earp type stuff? Yeah. Look, I love Gruden and he was a great broadcaster. It was fun. So I.

[Taylor Lewan]

You love the nickname.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You love the nickname. It's okay. It's the best nickname.

[Eli Manning]

I wave, I respond.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

You know, people never call me Peyton. They just yell Omaha or Sheriff. Yeah. And you keep going. But like I said, I will never go third person on you saying, you know, sheriff's here.

[Peyton Manning]

You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to deals time where you can enjoy store wide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go, pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Eli Manning]

Ugh. Come on.

[Peyton Manning]

Why is this taking so long?

[Eli Manning]

This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Representative]

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[Eli Manning]

Whoa. This thing moves.

[Lenovo Representative]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

You know where the teammates ever picking it up calling you the sheriff?

[Eli Manning]

Oh yeah, no for sure. Oh yeah. Vaughn. I mean Von Miller. I guess that's all he called me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's it.

[Taylor Lewan]

That is cool. Yeah, there's. There's this legend of Peyton Manning. I've had some teammates that played with you and they would say they would tell stories like if a tight end dropped a pass and then a co, you get him off the field and then if a coach tries to get him back on the field, you're like no, no, no, he's got to stay on the sideline. Whether it was that, whether it was, whether it was like that or not. When do you feel like you started to like have that confidence in you to take over like that?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, I mean, certainly not early on. Not coming off a tough rookie season. And I think the number one thing that you want to do as an NFL player, you guys know this, is try to earn the respect of your teammates. Right. And when you're 22 years old as a quarterback, you got 37, 38 year old grown adults in that huddle with you. My first game in college here at Tennessee, I went into the huddle, I was a freshman. You know, I kind of had this pre planned speech for my first game. I know I'm just a freshman. Let's go down the field and score big left tackles. Like shut the F up and call the effing play.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

And it was the most, it was like the best thing that ever happened to me because college, high school, NFL, they don't want to hear that. They want to see you take a hit. They want to see you take responsibility for holding the ball too long. Right. Not blaming, you know, the receivers or o linemen. So that's what I wanted to do when I got to the NFL. So yeah, it took, you know, years before that. I never kicked a guy out for dropping the ball. I would kick a guy out if he, if he made a mental error, like if he, if he jumped off sides and maybe did it twice. And the legend get him out of here. The one, the one that is. We were playing the Ravens one time and this guy jumped off sides to start the series. All we had to do is get one first down. We were going to run the clock out and he jumped off sides on the first play. And sure enough, we don't get the first down. We punt to Ed Reed who's, you know what electric he was.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

And somehow we end up stopping him and we win the game. So now we're going to take the knee. We have the ball with 12 seconds, we're going to take the knee. So the guy that jumped off sides is in the huddle to take the knee. And I said, get out. And he's like, he's like, what? We're just taking the knee. I was like, yeah, get out. And so he ran, he ran out. We had to substitute bring somebody in just to take the knee. And he said his dad asked him after the game, he's like, why'd you have to go out to take the knees? Like, I don't want to talk about it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Killed his player performance that year.

[Eli Manning]

So, you know, but like I said, but it was all. I was hard on myself. People could. I probably cussed myself more in practice than I did anybody else. So I think people knew that I was hard on myself. So when I was hard on them, it was fair. Right. And I hope, you know, my teammates felt that way, that it was all about just trying to win. Let's try to do it. I never, ever wanted to embarrass anyone. This was a rookie receiver. I'm not going to mention his name on the podcast. He may live in Nashville, so he knows who he is. But that was kind of a one, a one off, if you will.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, that is funny.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Do we had. We literally had. Earlier this morning, we had Will Levis on, and Will Levis is talking about working himself into a leadership role and how that looks for him. At what point in your career did you know, okay, I can start telling these guys point blank, this is how I feel as opposed to kind of like beating around the bush.

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, it's a great. It's a great question because it's a feel. Taylor, I think you got to do some things first, right? I think you got to lead a two minute drill. That game Will had against the Dolphins, right, last year, that was a, that was a good thing, right? I think he can bank that one. And that earned you some stripes. So you love to have some continuity, certainly, you know, leading a team to the playoffs or winning a division or beating a team that you're not supposed to, just those kind of things where you just sort of kind of check some boxes. That's. That's how it was for me. You know, I didn't say a whole lot my rookie year. I just wanted to earn their respect. And, you know, I had a two minute drive to beat the jets that year and I was excited. But, you know, I just don't think veteran players, you guys know this and they don't want to hear young players, you know, barking orders until they truly have earned their respect. And I think that's a process that takes a little time. But I liked what Will did last year. You know, he's tougher than nails. He stands in the pocket, he runs. I like him to slide a little more, no question, just to stay healthy. I look, that's hard because I never could run. I never had the option. But these guys that can run, as you know, you still want to be there all 17 weeks. And so I'm pulling for him. I like Brian Callahan. He was an assistant coach with me in Denver. I think that could be a good, you know, head coach quarterback combo.

[Taylor Lewan]

How everybody talks about the Manning Brady rivalry when you were in it, how real was that in your mind personally? Like, if you, when you, after a game, are you, are you searching to see how he did? Like, what was that rivalry?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, you always just knew, right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

If there's no Tom Brady, I mean.

[Eli Manning]

You always, you always knew that, you know, that the Patriots had won. I mean, I guess when it really started, we played him in the regular season so many times, and if we lost to him, you just knew we're going to have to go play at New England in the playoffs. And this, like, we lost to him week one, one time, I'm like, we're coming back here in, in January. Yeah. And so you just knew they were going to be there. They were so consistent. Look, it was Tom, it was Belichick, it was defense, it was the whole thing. Right. It was just this kind of this triple headed monster. So when you played them, yeah, you knew you had to be on your game. You knew their defense was going to be stingy. You know, just they always spell a check. You know, kind of the easiest way to describe him. He always took away the things you really like to do. So you had to find something else to kind of do well that game. And then Tom was going to be on his game, so you had to score some points. But, you know, major respect to everybody during that era.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, we were, you were mentioning in your last answer about how you feel like quarterbacks just need to do something a little bit. Now, I fumbled a big question when we had Rich Eisen on the podcast because my dad told me something as a kid, and my dad told me this as well, but I was told that when you first got in the NFL, you didn't want to do any marketing stuff until you kind of proved it a little bit. Is that true?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, that is true. I just didn't. Which people would laugh at. Now it's like, you know, you do so many commercials, Peyton. I can't believe there actually was a time when you didn't do anything. But yeah, I think there's something to that about just kind of earning your stripes a little bit and make that the incentive, right, to go win some games and then, man, some things are going to come your way when you do it, but not just because you got drafted or whatnot, you know, to go and earn it. And that's. Look at those days are probably out the window now because of what's happening now in college right now. But, yeah, I remember the first real commercial that I did was kind of in my second year in the NFL. We'd had a good season, so I felt like I'd kind of maybe earned some stripes. I did a Gatorade commercial with Michael Jordan. Another name drop. Yeah, same name drop. But I can tell you where I was on the totem pole. I never knew what a. What a. What a double was for a commercial. Michael Jordan had this double guy that looked kind of like him that just made a ton of money, you know, filling in for Mike on some of the commercials that he did. So I got there, and they said, hey, your double is going to be standing in for you. I'm like, oh, I've got a double. This is. This is.

[Taylor Lewan]

Can't wait to see him.

[Eli Manning]

And they said. They said, your hair's a little longer than the double. Do you mind if we give you a little haircut to match the double? And I was like, is that how it's supposed to work? Like, would you tell Michael to shave his mustache to match his double? Something tells me so. I was pretty low on the totem pole, but, yeah, it's still kind of my advice to rookies is, man, just go earn it. You go do it. Look, the team's going to try to promote you, and the marketing team is going to want you to go meet every sponsor. I get that there's excitement. It really wasn't me as much Taylor, as much as the Colts organization. I had a great general manager in Bill Polian who just said, hey, let this guy play football first before you kind of start trying to use and to promote the team and whatnot. And that really helped me. Just kind of concentrate on football with your nephew.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Has he kind of taken that same approach?

[Eli Manning]

That was kind of what my advice was. Look, you know, he's my nephew. He reaches out to me, you know, for questions. But his dad's been around the block. You know, Cooper's giving him great advice, and I think he wants to play. He wants to establish himself, you know, first. And, you know, obviously, I think they got a good team this year. I'm a big fan of Quinn. I've gotten to know him. He comes down to our camp. The two of them get along great. So I'm proud of him for staying there. Most kids probably transfer in that setting, but he stayed there. He likes playing for Sark. He likes the system. And when he does get in there, he's going to benefit from kind of having a Little continuity in the system.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I know, I know. It's my third one in a row, but you're good. Your nephew obviously calls you a lot. And I know you and Eli have a big rivalry. Who do you think he calls more?

[Eli Manning]

It's funny, you know, like he's. I mean, these. These 19, 20 year olds. I mean, the text response rate, it's not. Not super high. Right. It's not a great completion percentage. So I don't. I kind of let him reach out to me if he has a question. He came to Denver a couple of years ago. We worked out. That was fun. And he will every now and then text me with a question about, hey, a two minute drill. This is what happened in practice today. And I'm sure as soon as he texts me the question, he regrets it, because you can't answer a question about a two minute drill with a text back.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Especially with the phone you use.

[Eli Manning]

You have to go to the voice memo.

[Taylor Lewan]

We have to.

[Eli Manning]

And it can't be just one. So you bang him back with a seven minute voice memo response about the two minute. About what the defense is doing and the plays that you like. You got to go to your staples.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

Get plays that you like and you finish it. And you're like, I didn't even mention the fact that a defense after a timeout will probably come with an exotic blitz. So you better call a max protection coming out of the timeout. And then you finish that one. That's about a six minute or. And you're like, well, but totally even, you know, forgot about the red zone.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

And so three voice memos later, send.

[Taylor Lewan]

Me a video back.

[Eli Manning]

Probably calling Eli Moore is probably the answer.

[Taylor Lewan]

Who do you think the favorite uncle is?

[Eli Manning]

So I don't know if he has one. If he did. If he did. I don't know. I mean, I haven't really seen. I mean, Eli's a good uncle to my kids. He is. He calls him. He's got nicknames for all of them, you know, kids. So I'd say we're probably pretty equal.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay, you talked about two minute. And then there is so much poetry when you watch a good two minute drill. A quarterback go down the field and just pick apart a defense all the way through. It's truly something beautiful. Is there 12 minute drive that sticks out in your mind where you're like, you essentially played chess while the defense is playing checkers?

[Eli Manning]

I mean, I mentioned this. This one against the jets my rookie year. Belichick's the D coordinator. Parcells is the head coach. They go to the AFC championship. So I don't know. We had a fourth and 18, which is that you have them right where you want them, right?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, it's an ideal situation.

[Eli Manning]

And so it was 4th and 13 and Belichick went all out blitz. And so we are not ready for. We're going to get sacked, whatever. We had a false start. So that takes it to fourth and 18. So now that's always the chess game. Does the defensive coordinator do the same blitz on the next play or since he showed his hand, he's going to do something different. So we, of course, the 2 and 12 Colts go well, he's definitely going to show the same blitz again. So we keep eight guys in the block, send like one guy out on the route. And what does Belichick do? Drop eight guys in the coverage. There's nobody open. And me like by the book quarterback. Hey, if nobody's open, throw your check down. Probably not what you're supposed to do on 4th and 18. Right. But Coach, I was listening, I was taking notes and I throw this check down to Marshall Falk and he breaks seven tackles and gets the first down. And then we go down the rest of the way and throw a game winning touchdown. So I always remember that one. But yeah, the two minute drill. My advice to quarterbacks, the pressure is on the defense. They have the lead. It really ought to be a time for a quarterback to kind of free up a little bit. Right. And let the defense get tight. Right. Hey, we can't give up this lead. Hey, let's better not blitz them. We're going to give a man to man. And so you want to try to kind of lean into that a little bit, but it means you've screwed up in the first three and a half quarters to get to that point as a quarterback. So it's your chance to get out of a bad jam. But hopefully you can play a little free in that situation because nobody really expects you to come back. And maybe you can surprise the crowd. Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

What. What coordinator gave you the most problems?

[Eli Manning]

Patriots. Belichick. Rex Ryan was tough. You know, he just did things that didn't make sense to me. I'm like, there's no way he can bring that guy. And he would. I was always looking when I watched the defense will. Okay. You know, they're never going to bring the will linebacker and the strong safety, so we can eliminate that. And then you watch the jets or the Ravens game against the Bills and they bring that exact blitz and I'm like, dang, you know. And so I had a lot of sleepless nights getting ready to play against his teams.

[Peyton Manning]

You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's Oregon Home Care Jobs.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to deals time, where you can enjoy storewide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions.

[Eli Manning]

Apply.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Eli Manning]

Ah, come on.

[Peyton Manning]

Why is this taking so long?

[Eli Manning]

This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Representative]

Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight, ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance. It keeps up with your business, not the other way around.

[Eli Manning]

Whoa, this thing moves.

[Lenovo Representative]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech [e-mail] Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The we've talked about you getting on other guys and a lot of times when the quarterback, especially an established quarterback, speaks up as an offensive lineman, you don't say a fucking word. You just sit there, you take it and maybe in the locker room you say, hey, maybe please don't yell at me in front of everybody like that next time. But there was one situation when you were at the Colts, Jeff Saturday, yelling about running the ball, which is every offensive lineman's dream. If you could just run heavy the whole game, the pressure's off, you can bruise it. And you walk over there and this is just. I'm from an offensive line perspective. You come over there getting Jeff and.

[Eli Manning]

Then you got four or five on you, totally out there and you give.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Them the whole you listen, it's not that big of a deal.

[Eli Manning]

It's not that big of a deal. Calm down.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What was that situation?

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, I mean, we were all frustrated. We had this great drive to get down there. And we called a run play. You remember those days, we were a one back offense. We never had a fullback. So the rules were if the defense just put too many guys in there, you got out of the run, you threw a quick slant or a fade to Marvin or Reggie. And so the Rams, they went to a, you know, a crowded line of scrimmage, like on first down and second down. So we threw through incomplete and we had run the ball all the way down to that point. And now on third down, it's third and goal from the seven, you throw again. So we go three straight incompletes. I'm frustrated, but the line definitely is frustrated. So we're coming off the sideline. I could just hear him over there talking to the line, chirping away.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Chirping away.

[Eli Manning]

He's barely hearing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Loud enough so you can hear.

[Eli Manning]

Yeah. I don't know exactly what he's saying, but I know what he's talking about. And you just sitting there breathing. And finally I just go over there and as soon as I get over there, I'm like, this is a bad move. Lions territory. Oh my God. And they all stand up. I got no backup. You know, Stokely's going the other way to the DB side of the bench. And so, yeah, I was miked up at the time. And so that lives on forever. But Jeff was my roommate on the road. Our lockers were next to each other. My locker in the Coles locker room was right in between the offensive linemen. You know, a lot of times there's a quarterback section, right receiver section. I put it right in between the five starting offensive linemen because those are the guys that were protecting you. Those are the guys who were talking all the time about checks and audibles. I wanted them to kind of know what I was going to audible to. I didn't want them to be surprised. And so we'd sit by each other on the plane rides. But yeah, that one certainly lives on.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Lives on forever. You guys, I'm sorry, I was going.

[Taylor Lewan]

To talk about when it's all coming to an end, like your mortality. Obviously you go out with a Super bowl, but you had the neck injury, you had it. You had the. You, you know, you had the things going. You had the things going on physically to where you're throwing for like north of 50 touchdowns. You're around 40 touchdowns. And then that last year, you kind of know that it's your last year going out. Like, what was it like for you when that mortality started to set in? Like, damn, this game isn't forever, even though I've played what felt like forever.

[Eli Manning]

Yeah, I mean, I think you just. You just kind of know, at least for me, when certain throws that you used to always make that you just don't make them anymore. And the ball is not going where you're where it's supposed to. You just sort of kind of go, that's. That's different. And. And so you sort of accept it. And so I think somewhere in my last season, I kind of knew it was going to be my last season. But Derek Jeter, I'm just on a name drop and roll here, putting good names out there, announced his decision to retire before his last season. And he told me that he regretted that because the whole season was a tribute to Derek Jeter. And in a team sport. He said it got to the point where he was almost embarrassed by it because he was going to play in Milwaukee and they had a video and they were giving him gifts, and he's like, it was a. It was all about me. And the Yankees didn't have a winning season. And so he said, hey, if you ever know you're going to retire, announce it the day before, decide, and then announce it the next day and be done with it. Don't do it before the season. And so I always remembered that. And so I kind of knew halfway through that last season, this is probably going to be it. But you just don't want to say it because then it becomes kind of all about you. And we had a good thing going and. And so we got to the super bowl, and of course they asked you right away. Yeah, that game, I just. You kind of want one moment just to enjoy. That game is my 18th season and, you know, I had a chance to win the Super Bowl. You want to sort of enjoy that night and not talk about you right away. So I tried to pivot and said, I'm just thinking about drinking a lot of Budweiser tonight. Everybody thought, oh, he's got this bud. I was really. I had no relationship. You're not allowed to have a. Yeah. At the time. A beer relationship. As a current player. I was just. I was. That's what I was going to do that night. I was going to drink a lot of beer. I was just trying to get him to stop asking me about retiring. And then Tony Dungy had told me, he said, even if, you know, just take one more month, just to let it sink in, don't make some emotional decision. Remember, Dick Vermeil kind of won the super bowl, and he said, I'm retiring. And then he missed it and he came back and coached the Chiefs. And so I took about a month, and then I decided in March that it was going to be it. I was thankful for the time I got to play. Most guys get injured, they oftentimes it's not their decision, they get retired. So to be able to do it on my terms, I was at peace with it. And I was thankful for the time that I got to play and the relationships that I made. I mean, you know, the equipment manager for Tennessee picked me up today at the airport, right. I cherish my friendship with him. The equipment manager for the Colts texted me a picture of his grandchildren today. And so those are my greatest takeaways from my time playing. Not a game, not a throw. The friendships, as you guys know, with just your teammates, the coaches of the behind the scenes. The video director here at Tennessee for me, is now the video director with the Broncos. And you talk about a guy that's broken more film down for me and, you know, he and I are friends. So anyway, you don't get to play anymore, but you still have those relationships.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Is there not a better group in a franchise than the equipment?

[Eli Manning]

Oh, the best.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The equipment guys are the number one cats everywhere we go. My boy Joey over there all.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yes.

[Eli Manning]

Those guys, I mean, you know, they have. They have what I call thankless jobs. I mean, nobody. I mean, people only come to them when they need something, right? I need cleats, I need.

[Taylor Lewan]

Hey, my loop wasn't in my locker exactly.

[Eli Manning]

I said, so show show appreciation. I don't know how y' all did your clubhouse dues or whatnot, but I was real big on, hey, take care of these guys because they love football and they want to win. So I still send my, my clubhouse dues. Do you really? To the Colts and the Broncos?

[Taylor Lewan]

No shit. Yeah, I'm sure they're very.

[Eli Manning]

I retired and so I just. Yeah, because it's like, you know, you know, they don't. Obviously they're not, you know, I'm not seeing them every day, but I'm just thankful for. For them, for what they did for me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What did you guys do? Flat rates? Or did you do practice squad as this much veterans or this, that type of thing?

[Eli Manning]

We tried to kind of do it different ways. I didn't necessarily, like, you know, sort of the. The public sign up list, right.

[Taylor Lewan]

Where they pass around.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It was always Brett Kern for us who would sit in front of the team. But here's how it's going to go and just kind of label it for everybody. This is where you're at. This is what you're putting.

[Eli Manning]

Yeah. Which is fair. Which is fair, right? Because you know, I think young players don't realize what these guys are doing. They're staying there at midnight washing socks and jock straps or whatnot. So. But it's a good tradition. And yeah, it's funny. I mean today I talked to both those guys today. So great, great memories.

[Peyton Manning]

You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to deals time where you can enjoy storewide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions.

[Eli Manning]

Apply.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Eli Manning]

Ah, come on.

[Peyton Manning]

Why is this taking so long?

[Eli Manning]

This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Representative]

Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight. Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance. It keeps up with your business, not the other way around.

[Eli Manning]

Whoa, this thing moves.

[Lenovo Representative]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech. [e-mail] Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.

[Taylor Lewan]

A good transition into tear talk. Our tear talk. Oh well you gotta. You got.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I did. But literally as soon as you said tear talk my brain like Men in Black.

[Taylor Lewan]

He was talking about. He was talking about like gift giving. Our tear talk we wanted to do with you is the best like in your career. Your top three gifts that you've either given o linemen the team. I don't know how you've gifted everybody but your top three.

[Eli Manning]

Top three. Wow. I guess you have to probably ask them. I guess. You know Jeff and Tarek, Lynn and those guys. I flew them all to the Hawaii to the Pro Bowl Right. You know, that was, that was kind of one of the first things that I did. Custom made cowboy boots.

[Taylor Lewan]

Okay.

[Eli Manning]

I mean, you gotta understand now, this is, this is, this is 2000. 2001.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You flew the O line to the.

[Eli Manning]

To Hawaii and their. And their spouses, you know, Hawaii trip. I'm just saying it's like. I mean, my home's like. They're like cooler things available now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Right.

[Eli Manning]

At least, I guess. Right. And so mine was from the heart. Cowboy boots, custom made suits, overcoats, you know, like always something fitted.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

You know, bring the guy in electronics, TVs. But it wasn't like, it wasn't a. It wasn't a Christmas gift. Like it was. You had to have blocked. Well, gift, like one year, 2001, we didn't make the playoffs. And my left guards, like, no gift. This year, I'm like, there's no playoffs, you know?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

You ever seen team Wolf? No wolf, no part, you know, no blocking, no gift. So. But like, the rules change. I mean, you know, Tarek Glenn at one point was making. My left tackle was making, I don't know, like 12 million a year. Used to be quarterback, take care of the poor old offensive line.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

I was on the office of lineman. They're making bank.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They're like, God bless that.

[Eli Manning]

Like, what is this watch? I mean, right. This is not right. It's not even the best Rolex out there.

[Taylor Lewan]

This is right.

[Eli Manning]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Offensive lineman, offensive lineman, got to get paid. That's a good, That's a good call.

[Taylor Lewan]

Was there a. It was. It only. How about this starting O line?

[Eli Manning]

No, I took care of all of them.

[Taylor Lewan]

Okay, Okay.

[Eli Manning]

I took care of the wingman. Yeah. You know, the practice squad guys. And yeah. Then you start spreading out. You got the tight ends, receivers. And so, yeah, like, I felt like I tried to show, you know, my appreciation for all those guys because, you know, you're, you know, sometimes receiving some of the awards or whatnot, but those are the guys that were making it, making it happen.

[Taylor Lewan]

You know, I'm walking over to Peyton's locker like, hey, you got anything for your boy?

[Ryan Reynolds]

For linebackers?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

For white middle linebackers.

[Eli Manning]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, that reminds me.

[Eli Manning]

No, never, never, never crossed over.

[Taylor Lewan]

We had. Not for Pat anger.

[Eli Manning]

We had.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We had Josh Allen and we talked about going to an empty situation. There's one middle linebacker that, you know is a liability in coverage. He goes out with your running back. Josh John called it a milk check. White guy. I see him, I'm.

[Taylor Lewan]

That's where I'm going with the ball rat. I'm staying in the box. You go out there?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, no, no.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Did you ever have, like a listen, guy out here? We got to take advantage of this poor soul.

[Eli Manning]

It's funny. I mean, I think it's Zach Thomas, a bunch of. And that was kind of thing we always said because he was always in the middle. We were always like, you know, I'm not sure if he can. If we can cover. Can we just.

[Taylor Lewan]

Can we get him outside the box?

[Eli Manning]

Get him out there? And he was just. What you said he was so smart. He never put himself in that.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, yeah, you got to know your weaknesses.

[Eli Manning]

I think he checked out. He's like, no, no. So, you know, send the Sam out there, the will out there. Yeah. Couldn't. We could never get him in that spot. And maybe, look, he was a stud player, so he probably could have covered him, but. So we'll never know, I guess.

[Taylor Lewan]

No milk checks.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You. You talk about gift giving is great, but one thing that I've always appreciated you for was some of the clips I would see about pranks you would do. You had one at the Pro Bowl. You empty the little thing. Do you have any, like, top pranks you ever put on guys in the locker room that you were like, man, I've done it.

[Eli Manning]

Just, you know, I mean, training camp, everybody had golf carts, coaches had golf carts. We were always trying to get those moved, you know, into, like, there was a little pond in the middle of the training camp and had a little platform out there. We got the golf carts moved out on that one time, big trash can full of water leaned against the door in the dorm rooms on the last night of training camp when their. Their bags are packed and their luggage should be on the floor. Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Which, you know, this is a yearly thing.

[Eli Manning]

Oh, yeah. Last night. Last night, I can't. You gotta be. Last night, they gotta be packed. Because we'd say, hey, practice in the morning. I'd kind of get up and say, guys, practice in the morning. I'm telling you, you don't want to get on the road. So I, you know, I just go ahead and pack up tonight. It's a nice.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Eli Manning]

Veterans session. And you lean that trash can against that door, you know, about 11:30 after bed check, and you just, you know, bang on that door hard. And they open that door and it's just a tidal wave, just a flood coming in. And like I said, you know, if it only gets their dorm, it's not really. But when it gets that luggage. Oh yeah, they're nice luggage that they've had. They got their picture with their girlfriend probably on top of the bag. It's ruined.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's diabolical.

[Eli Manning]

Trying to think, you know, another guy, a guy in Denver who had a hit, a picture of his girlfriend in his room. I think it was like body paint of her, you know, like, I'm just. It was interesting picture to have in training camp. And we got it somehow and we had a security. You know, you have security on the floor, right? And like these guys, you know, they take naps like you know, 11 o'. Clock. And we put that picture like on the security guards lap, like as he was sleeping. And that kind of caused a little stir with the player. Like why does the security guard have a picture of my girlfriend in body paint? So anything to keep, you know, keep things loose. You guys know the grind of, of training camp. So just to make things fun. But yeah, I miss that. I haven't put a trash can full of water in a hotel room.

[Taylor Lewan]

Should get Eli. You should get Eli at some point.

[Eli Manning]

You want to mess with Eli. Eli's. Eli's got some. Got some prank game. He's big with the cell phone. His go to move for years was you could change your settings, you could change the language on your phone. He'd like say, hey Will, let's get a picture, you know, and I'll take it of YouTube first. And he's taking your picture and he changes your phone to Chinese in seven seconds. And now you can't get it out.

[Taylor Lewan]

Now you can't. Yeah, you can't figure it out.

[Eli Manning]

General and settings are in Chinese. And now his go to. He has a thing called text replacement. The feature on your phone would be anything you text often that's long worded. Your address, your email. Hey, what's your email? You know, text replacement. If you put, you know, p, it autocorrects to your email. Yeah, but see, it autocorrects to your address. Well, you can make whatever you want to mean whatever you want. Yeah. So he changes the word yes on my phone to I just sharded. Okay. And so when my wife says, hey, are you gonna be home for dinner? You know, I'm talking quickly. Yeah, so she says. Actually she's like, oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? I'm like, what? What just happened?

[Taylor Lewan]

So, yeah, anyway, respect to Eli for that.

[Eli Manning]

That's a good one. Don't mess with him.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That is a solid one. Winner up this episode to bring you.

[Taylor Lewan]

Let's Lock in. Oh, they taped it. They taped it. Smart move. Smart move. You guys have had so much success with the main in cast, Omar productions and everything else. Like, is there anything that, is there something that you guys are doing different this year that people can look forward to?

[Eli Manning]

Excited this year. We were talking about him earlier. Bill Belichick is going to be a permanent first half guest.

[Taylor Lewan]

Permanent.

[Eli Manning]

In every game that we're doing this year. Going to talk about the defense. We got Niners, jets, first game. He'll come on and talk about, you know, the three things that the jets are going to have to do to stop Purdy. You know, what the Niners going to have to do to stop Aaron Rodgers. He'll be able to talk about, you know, maybe some coaching decisions that might happen. Look, not. Not enough people have gotten to hear Belichick's brilliance. Right. He never shared with everybody. His players know. I played for him in two Pro Bowls. I have a sense of it. But we've had rehearsals. I come away as a smarter football fan after listening to him. And he's witty and he's dry. He couldn't tell in the rehearsal when we were live and when we weren't a couple times. So some of the things he said when we were live and he thought we weren't were great. Like if we could just get that a little bit, he, like, I could just trick him. Like, Bill, we're not live. What do you really think right now? So I don't know if we'll do that to him as a rookie prank, but I'm excited about that because he's, look, he's a brilliant football mind and I think viewers will have the benefit of hearing from him. And Elon, I are looking for. Plus he doesn't like Eli because he, like beat him in two Super Bowls. Yeah, yeah. Making fun of Eli's encouraged here. Yeah. So it should be a fun year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Dude, that's. That's going to be awesome. Is there anything over these first few years that you kind of look at and you're like, we need to get better in these areas because obviously it's a new thing?

[Eli Manning]

No, we do a study in the off season, just like you do when you're playing. And look, we have those, these guests on. We've learned that when we're interviewing a guest about why they love football and a big play happens, we've got to cut them off or her off and say, hey, hold that thought. I got to tell you what Aaron Rodgers just did here. He just checked To a wide receiver. Screen versus cover zero. And they just gashed the Niners. Elon. I weren't doing that enough because they want to be rude. We want to interrupt, y', all, but the fans have kind of spoken in our little study that we did, and they said, hey, we want to hear about the big plays that happened, and Belichick is going to be a first half guest. And then maybe just have two guests in the second half, try to have one former player or a current player. And then maybe one celebrity, maybe just to have enough, you know, a football discussion in the fourth quarter and then maybe one celebrity. Because, look, the show, it's supposed to be different than the main broadcast, right? They don't want just me and Eli talking, so we have to be different. Those are our instructions. So we think, you know, being sure the guests are dialed into the game and being sure we're always talking about what's going on in the game, so. And then if Eli would just stop making forehead jokes. It's been four years. It's. It's. It's expired.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Gotta find new material.

[Eli Manning]

That's what I tell them. Yeah, you keep going back to the same stuff. So those are the couple things we want to work on.

[Ryan Reynolds]

A couple of things. I know you're out of time, and we. I just want to say thank you. This has been so awesome. The stories have been amazing. I want to let you know that we are also available every Monday anytime you need us.

[Eli Manning]

We have somebody. We have repeat guests.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Give her in a pinch. Just know that the boys got you.

[Eli Manning]

Anytime Y' all were voted high in our off season study, people appreciate it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, the bus. And bump.

[Eli Manning]

The stories we made.

[Taylor Lewan]

The little painting at the end.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, a little portrait. See here? There was a big jump here in week 11. That's a bus for the boys.

[Eli Manning]

Guys, did you get the painting we got?

[Taylor Lewan]

No, we never got the painting there.

[Eli Manning]

We. Oh, you got. You got the.

[Taylor Lewan]

Wait, hang on. Did we get the Instagram?

[Eli Manning]

It's on the Instagram.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

I was gonna say we got Instagram.

[Eli Manning]

For Eli, I think.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But thank you. Thank you for taking the time seriously. This was awesome. We've wanted to get you on the show for a long time. We appreciate you.

[Eli Manning]

You're a legend.

[Taylor Lewan]

You really are, bro. My dad's gonna be fired up at the cafeteria. In high school, I battled to the death for you. But once Tom got a couple more. It's kind of like. But I'm talking every year, I'm like, vein coming out of my neck.

[Eli Manning]

I like it, I like it.

[Taylor Lewan]

But the boys got your back bro. Thank you so much.

[Eli Manning]

This has been awesome. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks Taylor. Thanks.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to Deals Time where you can enjoy storewide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Peyton Manning]

Every business has an ambition. PayPal Open is the platform designed to help you grow into yours with business loans so you can expand and access to hundreds of millions of PayPal customers worldwide. And your customers can pay all the ways they want with PayPal, Venmo, pay later and all major cards so you can focus on scaling up when it's time to get growing. There's one platform for all business PayPal open grow today at paypalopen.com loans subject to approval in available locations. Untold Stories Life with a Severe Autoimmune Condition, a production from Ruby Studio in partnership with Argenics, is back with Season four. Join me, Martine Hackett, as we explore the realities of life with Myasthenia gravis or MG and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or cidp. We'll uncover the stories of resilience and self advocacy in the face of uncertainty. From overcoming misdiagnosis to finding empowerment in small victories, these are moments that change us. Here's a glimpse of what's in store. Whenever I go to my specialist, he mentions the R word. Remission. Is it possible? Like, is it over? But also knowing it's never really over, but just being able to say, hey, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Stay the course. Don't give up on yourself. Every single person living with the autoimmune illness has a life worth living, and it's up to you to define that, to capture that, and to go guns blazing. Follow and listen to Untold Stories on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.