Report: Peyton Manning was concerned about having to call Eli’s games

Peyton Manning could have had his pick of broadcasting jobs for the upcoming season, but the NFL legend decided he is not ready to explore that career path just yet. Perhaps when his younger brother retires, Peyton will change his mind.

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that one of the reasons Manning chose not to take a broadcasting gig was that he did not want to end up in the booth calling one of his brother Eli’s games. Peyton was so adamant about it that FOX reportedly tried to work out a situation where the New York Giants did not end up on Thursday night games if Manning was part of the broadcasting team. In that scenario, FOX would have to work with the NFL to make sure Giants games wound up on the network’s Sunday coverage.

While not wanting to call Eli’s games was not necessarily a deal-breaker for Manning, Marchand reports that it was “part of the process.” Plus, Manning is said to still have his eye on joining an NFL front office at some point, so broadcasting may not be his top choice for life after football.

Manning is a perfectionist who always strives to be the best at what he does, so you can understand why he would feel he can’t fulfill all of his job responsibilities without a willingness to criticize his brother. Based on the explanation Manning gave this week for passing on broadcasting gigs, it sounds like the door could still be open a few years down the road.