MARLBORO, NY – Maybe they took a taste test at the league office. Maybe it was the company’s tasteless former CEO John Schnatter’s comments blaming NFL player protests for Papa John’s declining sales. Maybe they finally decided his pizza sucks so bad it was time toss his pies. Maybe it was all of the above. Anyway you slice it (see what I did there), the NFL severed it’s sponsorship with The Official Pizza of the NFL. Unfortunately, the taste-bud poor league picked up an equally bad chain-pizza company, Pizza Hut, as it’s new official pizzeria… Not really sports news you’d normally find here, I know… but in a more sports-related matter, at least we should see less of the omnipresent Peyton Manning… or at least I hope.
He has appeared in commercials hawking everything; Nationwide Insurance, DirecTV, MasterCard and Sprint – to name several. Eli’s brother has also appeared on Saturday Night Live (which was admittedly funny) and even hosted the ESPY’s. Rumor has it Peyton could land the vacant color commentator microphone for ESPN’s Monday Night Football telecasts. With no more Chucky (another prayer answered) in the booth they’ll need a name to help sell the most dreadful of the NFL’s primetime television games. Please no! Not Peyton Manning!
If you haven’t guessed, I for one am tired of Manning. He hasn’t disappeared from our conscious since hanging up the cleats a few years ago and I hate #16 more now than I did in the Super Bowl. Remember when the Seattle Seahawks defense made him look every bit the washed-up quarterback he was at that time? In a word, overexposure kills everybody and everything for me and I can’t be alone here. My feeling is the sibling rivalry he has with Eli will keep Peyton around until his two-time Super Bowl winning brother retires. Peyton has made millions as a player. Peyton has also made infinitely more cash in endorsements. When is enough, enough and who will save us from this comically commercialized country bumpkin?
It’s not about his brilliant playing career because he was great and helped wide receiver Marvin Harrison to otherworldly Fantasy Football production… which I cashed in on. And yes, we will see him enshrined next year in the Hall Of Fame. But it’s going to have to be one helluva speech to catch my ear, as most football players do while behind the pulpit at Canton. There’s also the NYC cynic in me that thinks about what has been swept under the rug with this Manning: the sexual harassment accusations while at the University of Tennessee and the Human Growth Hormone story which he was subsequently “cleared” during a time when he was having physical issues in his neck.
I barely watch an entire Monday Night Football game as it is. Adding Peyton Manning, as knowledgeable as he is, would add to the overkill and keep me from watching any MNF.
Next week: my tribute to Stan Fischler, who I just learned is calling it quits on the television side of hockey telecasts.
That’s it. Feel free to comment below and come back tomorrow for @ByDJEberle – whose favorite pizza is the Applebee’s Bar Pie… You can find us on Twitter – @CheesyBruin & @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00 and Instagram @MeetTheMatts, as well. And don’t forget to like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
