Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Rachel Leishman

Why is Eli Manning on another weird side quest?

If you didn’t know what Chad Powers was prior to the trailers for the new Hulu series, you really missed out on the funniest time in Eli Manning’s career. Manning, famous for being one of the best quarterbacks, once played dress up to trick Penn State’s football team.

But I guess inspiring one Hulu series wasn’t enough. Now, he has decided that he wants to get into baseball. Sort of. Manning dressed in disguise once again. This time, to umpire the Savannah Bananas game against the Firefighters at Yankee Stadium. And if you know what those baseball games are like, you know that this was probably the least surprising thing to happen.

The Bananas have become internet sensations for their TikTok antics at the games and their ability to have a lot of fun with baseball while playing. They’re still great at the game but they also are singing Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” before walking into the batter’s box. It’s a whole thing. So Manning was there at Yankee Stadium as their “surprise” umpire of the night.

Much like when Manning rolled into Penn State as “Chad Powers,” he had on a disguise to surprise those in attendance and, seemingly, the players as well. But it is hilarious that Eli Manning, a man with two Super Bowl wins, chooses to just randomly dress up and do little side jobs for fun.

Manning taking on baseball when his series Chad Powers is set to hit Hulu later this month is kind of iconic. The series is based on the sketch where only one person knew that “Chad Powers” was actually Eli Manning and fans got to hear a lot of players question who this guy was until they saw just HOW good of a player “Chad” was.

Will Manning’s umpire be the next on the adaptation docket? Who knows but I do love that this is just what he does with his time.

(Featured image: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.