It’s official and the rumors are true. Monday Night Football offered its analyst position to former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and he turned them down. Not because he wouldn’t be interested in the job, but specifically because he had no desire to analyze his brother Eli Manning or any former teammate.
Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports got the scoop.
“If he ever decides (Monday Night Football) is something he wants to do, it’s going to be after Eli has finished his career and he gets a little bit further from his era of playing and maybe some of his teammates have moved on, too,” the source told Robinson. “It would have been a tough position for him this season, with the Giants (and Broncos) being on the schedule. There is a lot of loyalty there for him and I don’t think he’d ever want to be in a position where he’d be conflicted about his analysis. It just wouldn’t have been a comfortable situation this year.”
Peyton Manning reportedly said no to MNF because he doesn't want to have to analyze Eli or former teammates https://t.co/1LGzorkFar
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 14, 2019
New York is set to appear twice on MNF this season, Week 9 against the Dallas Cowboys and Week 14 at the Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s a shame, but understandable for Manning. It’s not like the analyst job offers are going away anytime soon for the future first-ballot Hall of Famer. While there’s no chance he’ll waffle on waiting for Eli to retire, he’ll probably enter a booth even if Von Miller is still playing. There’s less to criticize for players that aren’t quarterbacks and that’s obviously Manning’s area of expertise.
One thing is for sure, when Manning does finally take a job in a booth, we’re getting the full Peyton Manning experience.
“I saw where Tony Romo said that he always knew that he wanted to be a broadcaster,” Manning told Robinson last month. “Well, I always knew I wanted to be a football player. That’s all I knew. I was all-in on that job. I didn’t think about anything else while I was playing. And I think that’s a good way to be. I think you’ve got to be all-in on what you’re doing.”
