Peyton and Eli Manning returned to the airwaves after about a month away, and their latest “Manningcast” of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” game did not disappoint, although viewers who made a drinking game out of every time guest Marshawn Lynch cursed weren’t conscious to see most of it.
It was freewheeling, it was fun, and it was football (in an aside, the Saints beat the Seahawks). And Tom Brady showed up to offer quips and jabs about 1) the Mannings, 2) defensive players and 3) his pal Rob Gronkowski.
Whee. Herewith follows a compilation of some of the best moments.
Marshawn Lynch, potty-mouthed yet extremely entertaining cognac devotee
“Beast Mode” dropped an f-bomb and uttered another expletive several times.
“What the f—,” the former Seahawks running back uttered as Seattle did not get a play off as the first quarter ended.
Peyton deftly offered an apology, because he and Eli are nothing if not well-mannered. “I want to thank Marshawn Lynch,” he said after Lynch signed off. “Not as wild about the language. I want to apologize about some of the language. It’s not what we’re trying to do on this show.” He reminded viewers about Eli’s unfortunate “double bird” gesture in an earlier episode. “I had to remind Eli this show is live, so Eli has learned his lesson.”
Eli earlier mentioned Lynch’s pregame ritual of downing a shot and a half of Hennessy and asked how many he had preparing for the Manningcast. The answer was that he had a “three-shot minimum” Monday. “I took one for me, I took one for big brah, and I got one for little brah.” Peyton thanked him “for that tribute,” and he replied, “Man, I was looking out.”
Tom Brady, up past his bedtime
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback admitted he was up later than he prefers and had jabs for everyone.
“Have you been to some of those defensive meeting rooms?” he asked at one point. “I mean, you wonder why they play defense, and after about two minutes you go, ‘Yep, they could never be an offensive player.’ … Defense is kind of like a dog chasing a car. Just get the guy with the ball.’’
Tedy Bruschi, Brady’s former New England teammate, unfriended him for that one, and Peyton noted: “I’m sure [Bucs safety] Antoine Winfield really appreciates those comments, for sure. Let me know how that conversation goes at breakfast in the morning.’’
In a previous appearance with the Mannings, Gronkowski said he didn’t need to spend time on film study. “I like his process. It’s worked pretty well,” Brady said. “His mind doesn’t need to be bogged down with film study. He’ll come to me later in the week and he’ll say, ‘Hey, you know, what do I got to do?’ I’ll say: ‘Just get open, catch the ball, run with it. It’s not that hard. You’re a tight end. You don’t have to call the plays. Just get open. That’s what you’ve got to do. Run away from the guys in the other color jersey.’ How hard is that?”
Brady and Peyton have several coaches in common — Bruce Arians and Clyde Christiansen, to name two. The latter came in for some teasing over a photo in which he is wearing a snug TB12 T-shirt.