Photo Credit: ESPN2; Omaha Productions
By Matt Clapp on

Actor Billy Bob Thornton joined Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN2 for the ManningCast during Monday Night Football between the Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs.

The Landman star delivered with a very entertaining guest appearance that included a lot of football talk, and he wanted even more before being cut off by a commercial break.

Here are some of the highlights from Thornton’s ManningCast appearance on Monday night:

In the third quarter, Thornton spoke about the impressive cameo Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made in Season 1 of Landman.

“I was not surprised, because he was actually telling his own story,” Thornton said about Jones’ Landman cameo. “I mean, if it had been scripted in a way where he had to say every line, it might have been different. But he was actually telling the story of his life.

“And he got teared up,” Thornton continued. “If you can get a non-actor to be themselves, they’re better than actors.”

The ManningCast went above and beyond with the research ahead of Thornton’s appearance, finding a Thornton baby photo and a local news story about how he weighed 30 pounds at seven months old.

“Is it true that the local newspaper called you the fattest baby and predicted you’d be a future fullback?” Peyton Manning asked Thornton.

“This is true,” Thornton confirmed. “That was in the Arkadelphia, Arkansas, newspaper. And the headline was, ‘Future fullback for HSTC,’ which is Henderson State Teachers College, where my parents went, and I also went later. I wasn’t a fullback. I majored in shooting pool and drinking beer. That is true, and I did weigh 30 pounds at seven months of age. And then by the time I was three or four, I was skinny as a beanpole. My mother said I used to eat sticks of butter like you’d eat a candy bar. I’d just eat the whole thing.”

The ManningCast then tossed the image of seventh-month-old Thornton alongside 13-year-old Andy Reid in the iconic “Punt, Pass, and Kick competition” photo from 1971.

Thornton played high school head football coach Gary Gaines in the 2004 film Friday Night Lights, and a discussion about that led to Peyton Manning asking him about turning down the opportunity to play legendary football coach Vince Lombardi in a movie.

“They were trying to make a movie about Vince Lombardi, and the family wanted me to,” Thornton said. “That was such a huge honor, because what a great, legendary coach. And I said, ‘Honestly, I can’t do this, because I don’t like to take things that I’m not right for.’ I said, ‘I think you need a heavier East Coast guy instead of a skinny hillbilly. That would’ve been a real stretch. I would’ve had to fake an accent, and all that kind of stuff. I don’t like to do that. I like to stay in the wheelhouse.”

Thornton, a former athlete and avid sports fan, enjoyed talking football throughout the appearance, and he even came up with a play that he had Peyton Manning draw up.

And Thornton’s appearance concluded with him wanting to talk about college football, only to have the end-of-quarter commercial break make those thoughts very brief.

“How about college football this year?” Thornton said. “With Penn State being No. 2, losing three games in a row. Brian Kelly was just fired from LSU. Indiana. Indiana is…”

“Hey, Billy, we’ve got to let you go,” Peyton Manning said as ESPN2 tried to go to commercial.

So, we’re left wondering what Thornton’s thoughts are on Indiana, but he’s likely very impressed with the No. 2 team in the country.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.

He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Matt Clapp