It is certainly not uncommon to see Eli and/or Peyton Manning appear in a commercial, but one may be surprised to see the famous quarterback brothers in the NBA’s new “We are all in the Finals” campaign.
Eli recently told The Post he wasn’t sure how they were selected for this spot, but that he and his brother have been big sports fans since their youth.
“We played basketball in high school. I think we chose football because we were both definitely better at it, and we didn’t pursue a basketball path further than high school because we were both really bad at it,” the former two-time Super Bowl winning Giants quarterback deadpanned.
But, can he dunk a basketball?
“I could dunk a basketball,” Eli answered, speaking in the past tense. “Can I? On an eight-and-a-half foot, no problem. On a 10-foot, I don’t think I have that ability anymore. But I have footage of me dunking in a game in high school, so I have proof.”
When the Mannings grew up in New Orleans, there was no team there at the time, so they watched a lot of national telecasts.
“It was hard not to be a fan of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls,” Eli said of watching hoops in the late 1980s and the 1990s. “I saw them live when they actually came to New Orleans for an exhibition, and that was really special, so I still remember that.”
When Manning arrived to New York, he said he “quickly adopted” the Knicks.
“I’m sad to say from 2004 until 2019, when I retired, it wasn’t the greatest run in the world,” he laughed, but said he was excited about their current postseason run.
Asked if there are any NBA players that he’s become friends with over the years, Manning said he’s played some golf with Ray Allen and Wally Szczerbiak, and that he’s spent a little bit of time with Steph Curry.
Manning recently won a Webby Award for his role as Chad Powers, when he went undercover to “try out” for Penn State football.
For his role as co-host alongside his older brother Peyton on Omaha Productions’ “ManningCast,” Eli is also nominated for Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent at the Sports Emmy Awards.
Where does this nomination stand on his list of professional accomplishments, somewhere between his first and second Super Bowl victories?
“Right in between,” he laughed.
Having accomplished his stated goal last year of having a former president as a guest on “ManningCast” when they had Barack Obama on, Eli said his current dream guests would be Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.
The NBA Finals commercial, which debuts on TNT during Game 5 of Sixers-Celtics on Tuesday night, is set to “Hometown Glory” by Adele.
Other stars in the campaign include former NBA champions Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, as well as skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and the rapper Suga.