Peyton and Eli Manning are both inspiring in this age of work from home and the tug-and-pull between companies across the country about whether they will return to the office. They say they love Monday Night Football analysis but don't see why they have to leave their house. This is a common argument across many industries.
Advertisement
Manningcast has a loyal following. Although it can be a bit silly at times (which is fine), people seem to appreciate the fact that the brothers simply describe what they see. There is no filter, they just react to what's happening on screen. It doesn't have catchphrases or be too jargon-filled. I am reminded of the scene from Die Hard With A Vengeance in which Jeremy Irons laughs at the CIA agent who chews on his glasses to make him appear smarter. It's the same thing.
As more and more color commentators realize that they are not trying to be John Madden, in-game analysis has improved slowly over the years. Greg Olsen was my guest on Sunday. He was clearly nervous, and sometimes stumbled over his words, but he was happy to critique any performance art depiction of the bubonic plague being put forth by Bears coach Matt Nagy. It's a feeling I get more of, but not enough. All of this is still miles ahead, however, of Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, which is basically a watered-down version of The View.
The Mannings don't have to be a bother. Both have instant credibility and are not too far from the weeds. Every broadcast team that we hear on Sundays or Mondays should always refer to the meetings they had with coaches, quarterbacks, and anyone else who was there the night before.
The broadcasters treat this as a privilege, and perhaps there was once a time. These meetings are no longer interesting to me. I don't hear any coaches gushing about their backup linebacker, or about how the quarterback did a great week of practice. He is still understanding the offense even though he is only five yards away. These meetings are so secluded and convinced they're keeping government secrets, that I don't think these coaches really get much more from them than what the mouthy press conferences provide. We sometimes get nuggets such as Nick Foles telling Brian Griese the Bears couldn't block any of his orders to run. But that caused so much chaos that we never got another one.
Second, broadcast teams are known to circle back to other teams throughout the season. This makes it difficult to wonder if they're concerned about putting too much pressure on people in Week 3. It could be that they fear losing their reception in Week 11. This is understandable but it is also part of the job.
They don't care. They aren't coming back to the town. They aren't even leaving the house. They can speak whatever they want and not worry about whether it will affect their coverage or if it might lower their standing within the league. They don't have to, if they care at all.
Advertisement
Given how much video the average punter can access now and how easy it is to read presser quotes from coaches or QBs from those who follow the team every single day, perhaps analysts would have a greater impact on game coverage if they didn't have to prioritize these meetings. You can just tell us what you saw and why. This is more than fair. That is on the coaches and players.
