There’s a narrative that Peyton Manning isn’t the biggest fan of the Indianapolis Colts. Despite being drafted by the Colts, playing the majority of his career in Indy (13 seasons), winning a Super Bowl with the team, and establishing himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time while in the blue and white, fans have often pointed out that Manning, in his retirement, tends to align himself more with his second franchise: the Denver Broncos— despite playing just four seasons in Denver.
This narrative has been fueled in recent years because of the Manningcast, an alternate Monday Night Football broadcast hosted by Peyton and Eli Manning. Fans noticed that the Manningcast never do Colts games but have done Broncos games. During Monday’s game between Denver and the Buffalo Bills, Peyton Manning explained why he and Eli haven’t done a Colts game yet.
In a true brotherly fashion, Peyton blamed Eli. After Eli kept making fun of Peyton for saying “we” when referencing the Broncos, Peyton explained that he always says we for his former teams. He went on to explain that he hasn’t had the opportunity to say we for a Colts game because they haven’t done any because of Eli’s schedule.
Peyton expressed, “I wanted to do several Colts games but you always have some kind of conflict.”Eli then responded, “Do you believe anything you just said?” Peyton laughed and said, “Yes, I believe all of it.” The question, though, is if Colts fans believe him.
Believe him #Colts fans? pic.twitter.com/zOsp3kVPgf
— Marc Dykton (@MarcD1075) November 14, 2023
Peyton Manning blames Eli Manning for Colts never being on Manningcast
Some fans took him at his word and used the clip to argue that Peyton has no problem with the Colts organization. Other fans were less hesitant to accept this reasoning, continuing to believe that there’s some sort of rift between Peyton Manning and Indy, and that he’s partial to the Denver Broncos.
Since the inception of the Manningcast in 2021, the Colts have played three Monday Night Football games. In 2021, Indy lost to the Baltimore Ravens, and in 2022, Indianapolis lost both their Monday Night Football games, one to the Pittsburgh Steelers and one to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Colts don’t have any Monday Night Football games this season, so fans will have to wait until next year to see if Indianapolis will finally make it onto the Manningcast or of Eli will have another conflict.