In the two-plus days since the Super Bowl, much has been said about Eli Manning’s blank stare after it became apparent that his brother, Peyton, would win a second Super Bowl ring. Two days before the Super Bowl, Eli shared some details of a time when Peyton’s actions were eliciting something other than blank stares from his kid brother.
During a Friday visit to PFT Live at the Super Bowl, I asked Eli to share details regarding some of the worst things his older brothers, Peyton and Cooper, did to him when they were young.
“You know they were pretty nice to me,” Eli said. “I think the biggest thing they did, mostly Peyton because you know Cooper is older than him, [Cooper] would pick on [Peyton]. So I come along, I’m gonna take it. So [Peyton] would pin me down, you know, put his knees on my arms. He’d just start knocking on my chest until I named at the the time the 28 teams in the NFL. So I got smart eventually I could rip those off pretty quickly. We went college divisions, different things and then if he just wanted to make me cry he’d say, ‘Name ten brands of cigarettes.’ I’m like, ‘I’m seven years old I haven’t started smoking cigarettes quite yet,’ but that’s when I’d just start yelling for mom.”
Until Sunday night, Eli had a leg up on Peyton with those two Super Bowl rings. And while Peyton insisted after the game that he and Eli don’t think in those terms, if they’re in any way normal, at some level it had at least crossed their minds. Eli’s story paints a picture of a very normal big brother/little brother relationship, and while as adults they undoubtedly support each other completely, the inner child who used to pin Eli down and knock on his chest surely is feeling relieved that they’re even, at least for now.