Colts legend, Peyton Manning, receives extension for ManningCast

The Manning brothers will be around a tad longer as they are renewed for another nine years.

The Indianapolis Colts found themselves a special person when they drafted Peyton Manning first overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. I use the word “person” instead of “football player” because what he has done over the last twenty-five years has gone far beyond his time on the gridiron. From a two-time Super Bowl champion to the host of SNL to a plethora of commercials, endorsement deals, and shows, Manning has just about done it all. He can now boast a successful alternative to the standard showing of Monday Night Football has he and his brother Eli Manning have signed on for another nine years.

Monday Night Football has been a staple of the NFL landscape since 1970. “Are you ready for some football?” has become inseparable from the weekly event and has reached an iconic level. Unlike Sunday Night Football, however, MNF has been slow to flex games to include the best teams. Until 2023, the games had been preset when the season began and no matter how things changed from preseason predictions (I’m looking at you Jets) to how things are going, on Monday night, the schedule proceeded as planned. That led to some serious duds.

Two things now occur to help alleviate some of those horrendous matchups: the NFL can now flex MNF from weeks 12-17 and ManningCast. Watching a 3-6 team battle a 2-7 team battle it out in week eleven is not what most would call primetime television. Instead of just watching the standard programming, fans now have the ability to watch two greats call the game from a split screen. While many still prefer the old school approach of ESPN’s standard coverage of the game, there is a growing audience for the Mannings’ style. Complete with insightful commentary, playful banter, jokes, and less than stuffy interviews, ManningCast has it all. It has been so good that it won Sports Emmy for Outstanding Live Series in 2022.

Love it, hate it, or couldn’t care less, ManningCast is here to stay. I think it is a perfect compliment to the standard broadcast and at the very least provides a flip back and forth option to check out the interviews or just give a different take when in the middle of a blowout of a middling contest. Peyton Manning continues to add to his greatness and legacy. Having him as part of the Colts’ lore is just the cherry on top.