Manning masters comedy act

Many non-Indianapolis Colts fans who watch at least a little television have probably asked themselves at least a time or two, ‘why is No. 18 on the small screen in my living room so doggone much?’

Some Colts fans might even have asked themselves this same question as Manning’s exposure is certainly at an all-time high.

But the truth is, few football players—or any athlete for that matter—have mastered the set of on-camera skills Peyton Manning has. And I’m not talking about his fake audibles during games.

Almost any sports marketer will tell you that trying to be humorous is one of the riskiest tricks for an athlete endorser. That’s because it’s harder than it looks, and if the athlete falls flat, they really look stupid, and that hurts their brand.

Manning has done little to damage his brand over the years from his credit card company commercials to his latest spoof on this year’s ESPY Awards. If you haven’t seen it, treat yourself by clicking here.

This is the second year Manning has spoofed a current major motion picture (this year, it’s The Blind Side featuring Sandra Bullock), and like those commercials where he’s cheering the meat cutter, No. 18 simply nails it.

You begin to wonder if after his playing career, Manning doesn’t have some kind of career on camera. Sportscasting would almost be too easy.

Manning might like the challenge of actually acting in a real movie. He certainly couldn’t do any worse than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the movie Airplane, and probably would do a lot better.

Who knows? If Manning works as hard at acting as he has at football, he could be pursuing a trophy of a different kind some day.