Belichick Bailed Out a Lame Manningcast Stunt With Yet Another Classic Tom Brady Story

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Generally speaking, I enjoy the Manningcast as much as the next guy. Which is awfully gracious and magnanimous of me given the fact Peyton and Eli each won two Super Bowl rings that would've belonged to the Patriots were it not for one or two plays each. But the concept and the execution of their show is such that it offers a nice alternative to an otherwise forgettable Monday Night game. 

That said, they tried a bit of sketch comedy during Texans-Cowboys that never should've made it out of the writers' room, much less ended up on the broadcast. I mean, about halfway through you knew this was going nowhere. Only Boomers will get this reference, but it's like one of those skits Johnny Carson would sometimes do that wasn't working, so the band would just play Soft Shoe music and he's start to tap dance. And everyone involved should be eternally grateful that Bill Belichick saved the bit. Because you can see from his reaction he was fully prepared to just leave Peyton twisting in the wind. First by saying nothing. Then cutting his legs out from under him by saying what everyone was thinking, “What is this? A comedy hour?” Until finally, mercifully, pulling out an old Tom Brady story on the very topic, thereby letting everyone off the hook. Especially the viewers:

That is how you do comedy. So much of guesting on someone else's show is having the ability to take any random subject they throw at you and find a way to turn it into a bit. And here's your perfect example. About 999 out of 1,000 football coaches would've just explained why it's a useful exercise to hold up racquets in a passing drill and left it at that. Belichick offers up a perfect anecdote. On point. One that relates to the topic. But way funnier and more interesting than Papa John's best buddy awkwardly trying to pull off broad, physical comedy. 

Which brings me to a broader point about Belichick's post-coaching career so far. It's obvious by now he's got a limitless supply of such stories. That in the 10 months or so he's spent in broadcasting, he's barely begun to scratch the surface of the surface of these. And to no one's surprise, the ones involving him and Brady are the best. Like every time he tells one, it's not only funny, it gives you more insight into a relationship that most Americans were interested in talking about than their own marriages. We were told for years that they were mortal enemies who couldn't stand being in each other's company and this planet wasn't big enough for the both of them. Only to find out in 2024 they were having competitions to out-bribe team assistants holding pickleball paddles in practice. 

We'll never see another collaboration like theirs if we live 100 lifetimes. And as much as I want to see how Belichick will do coaching again, say in Jacksonville:

… I could live quite happily if he decides to stay in front of the camera, free to say whatever he wants to, for the foreseeable future. Calling out shitty TV segments and saving them with Brady stories for the rest of our lives. Either way, we all win.