Eli Manning led the NFC to victory in the NFL Pro Bowl game Sunday afternoon, but Peyton Manning’s son wasn’t convinced.
In a world marred by conspiracy theories, you certainly don’t have to look far to find someone who believes the NFL is rigged. Et tu, Mannings? Even football’s royal family seems to be skeptical about the NFL being a fair and honest product.
After a close game last season, the NFL enjoyed another nail-biter of a flag football game to end this year’s Pro Bowl festivities as the NFC secured a 64-59 win over the AFC with a goal-line stand. ESPN cameras followed Eli as he celebrated the win and jogged across the field to shake Peyton’s hand. But when Eli got to Peyton’s son Marshall, the 12-year-old was quick to credit the refs for his uncle’s victory.
“You know the refs won the game,” Marshall hilariously told Eli. “It’s scripted. It’s scripted,” he repeated as ESPN quickly cut away from the Mannings and threw it back to play-by-play voice Scott Van Pelt.
ESPN abruptly leaving the scene gave the impression it was attempting to hide broadcasting a Manning insinuating the game was fixed. But perhaps not wanting to give any credence to those conspiracy theories, Omaha Productions quickly tweeted the video of Peyton Manning’s son claiming the game was scripted with a laughing emoji.
For years, the NFL has been accused of rigging its product and the league even parodied the notion last summer with a “table read” hype video to insinuate every team is handed a script before the season. The NFL, of course, did it as a joke to mock the idea that the league is rigged. The younger Manning, however, appeared to be buying into the theory, at least as it pertained to Sunday’s Pro Bowl.
As ridiculous as fixing the NFL may seem, speculation surrounding the legitimacy of the league has only been ramped up in recent years by legalized gambling. And the NFL is now set to play their first Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Sunday.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com