Eli and Peyton Manning have teamed up for a DirecTV NFL promo entitled “Football Cops,” in which the brothers sport ’70s style mustaches while fighting crime in the streets with their quarterbacking skills.
Eli’s can either be described as a Fu Manchu or a handlebar, and Peyton settles for a regular bushy mustache.
“I have always been envious of people who have been able to grow a mustache,” Eli Manning told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. “Mine just does not come in with the Tom Selleck thickness that I’ve always wanted.”
Eli almost had to take it off because the producers were worried it made him unrecognizable.
“They were worried people would say who was that with Peyton,” Eli said. “But it looked too good and I had to stay with it.”
More than 620,200 people have viewed it on YouTube, including many of the Giants’ offensive linemen.
“The only good part about the lockout is that I haven’t had to see them every single day since this campaign came out,” Eli Manning said. “I am sure they are working on something and got some takes from it and put together something else or have a spoof on it. They’ve had a lot of time on their hands, so it scares me a bit. I’ve gotten a lot of texts and calls. That’s their job: to give me hell about it.”
For the most part, Manning said they have enjoyed the 2 minute, 38 second video that was filmed in Brooklyn. The taping took place during an eight-hour shoot May 19, less than a week after Manning completed a passing camp with teammates in Hoboken, N.J.
“All the passing camp and throwing to my receivers was just preparing me for the bad guys, to make sure I could hit them,” said Manning, who comically subdues the hoodlums in the ad by throwing footballs at them instead of shooting them.
“It’s a different aim. When throwing to a receiver, you put a little lead on it and hit them in the hands, hit them out in front. This is you’re aiming for the head. If you are stationary, you aim for the middle of the chest.”
Manning said he did all the scenes without a stunt double, including running across a rooftop at the end of the video and throwing a ball at a “bomber” on another roof. He added that a lot of the lines were improvised, and the producers took the ones they liked.
“It was,” he said, “a lot of fun.”
According to the DirecTV website, “Mike Tahoe (Peyton Manning) was living the dream as a big league quarterback, until a personal tragedy brought him back to the mean streets of his childhood. Vowing to bring those who wronged him to swift justice, he enlists the help of his best friend, and biggest rival, C.J. Hunter (Eli Manning). Both grew up together as orphans in a home for wayward boys. Both overcame the odds to become huge sports stars. Now both are the only hope for the rugged streets they once again call home.”
Watch it here:
