Why Peyton Manning is 'Glad' He Never Played Brother Eli in Super Bowl

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Peyton Manning is thankful he never had to play against his brother Eli Manning in the Super Bowl.

The Manning brothers appeared on the Thursday, February 6, episode of Jason and Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast, discussing whether they would have wanted to compete against each other in the biggest NFL game.

Eli, the 44-year-old former quarterback for the New York Giants, joked, "I don't know if it would have been fun to play you in a Super Bowl or not."

AFC head coach Peyton Manning and NFC head coach Eli Manning are seen during the 2023 NFL Pro Bowl Games at Allegiant Stadium on February 05, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

Retired Philadelphia Eagles player Jason spoke from experience, saying, "I'll tell you right now, it was not fun at all, Eli. It was f***ing terrible," however, Travis, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, chimed in, "I had a pretty good time, I don't know."

Jason, 37, and Travis, 35, competed against each other in 2023 in the Super Bowl LVII — the Chiefs ultimately came out victorious.

Peyton, the 48-year-old retired Indianapolis Colts quarterback — who has won two and lost two Super Bowls — said he was glad the scenario never played out.

"The one thing Eli has no clue about and no understanding and believe me, he's proud of it, is what it's like to lose a Super Bowl, right, it's a horrible feeling," he admitted. "Obviously, winning is as great as you think it is, and losing is as bad as you think it is. So I'm kind of glad that it didn't happen."

Peyton went on to say that the few times he did play against his younger brother were hard on his family.

"Eli and I played three times in the regular season my parents were an absolute wreck and just in a regular season game," he confessed. "Now you take that to the Super Bowl and knowing, you know, obviously the attention a quarterback's going to get in a Super Bowl win or lose knowing that you know one had to win and one had to lose, I probably wouldn't wish that on my family."

Luckily, the brotherly competition between Jason and Travis is over now that Jason has retired. However, Travis will face-off against Jason's old team again in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, February 9, providing a new dilemma for Jason — who he should root for.