Manning’s Omaha Productions, ESPN to Debut QB-Focused Pre-Draft Show
Archie Manning is an overtexter. Actually, he’s “the all-time text animal,” Peyton Manning said about his dad during a phone call from his office in Denver.
Peyton means it as a compliment. The Manning patriarch is constantly keeping up with his friends, family and former teammates, and after his sons held an intervention about filling up people’s voicemail boxes, he now does it via text—sending everything from daily devotionals to birthday wishes.
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Even during the family’s supposed tech-free time around the dinner table, “My dad’s there on his phone the whole time,” Eli Manning explained last year. “‘Aw sorry, I’m texting Trevor Lawrence.’”
Yes, among Archie’s countless pen pals are the many NFL quarterbacks who have come through the Manning Passing Academy, working as counselors for campers and devotees of the Manning way since 1996. All eight of the starting quarterbacks in the divisional round of this year’s NFL playoffs, for example, were past counselors at the Thibodaux, La.-based program. This year’s top NFL draft prospects were there last summer, including Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis, Anthony Richardson and Hendon Hooker.
Those connections form the foundation of the newest show from Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. Making its debut on April 10, On the Clock follows Young, Hooker, Levis and Richardson through their final collegiate seasons and pre-draft preparations, starting at the academy in Louisiana.
Each episode will air on ESPN before being available on ESPN+. They will feature conversations between prospects and the Mannings, mic’d up content, and analysis by Peyton and Eli.
The Mannings’ relationships with the players who attend the academy extend well beyond the four-day event, Peyton said. Even if he and his brother aren’t as good at digital communication as Pops (Peyton has been called out before for his inscrutable, single-emoji responses), they often provide guidance on offseason training, representation and navigating the pre-draft process. Along the way, they get a unique perspective on each up-and-coming thrower.
“They’re out there coaching three-a-days in 90-degree weather, coaching eighth-graders and ninth-graders playing quarterback,” Peyton said of the counseling experience. “You learn a lot about somebody.”
NFL GMs often ask Peyton for his take on a given year’s QB crop—and other players, too. Manning’s praise of a young Cooper Kupp supposedly turned Rams decision-maker Les Snead onto the wideout, for instance.
But don’t expect Peyton to be too critical of any of the show’s subjects. “I’m pretty positive on all of them,” he said, “because I want all these kids to have a chance to go live their dreams.”
NFL Films, which helped produce On the Clock, worked with the Mannings and Omaha to get prospects comfortable with the level of behind-the-scenes access the project required.
The show’s ethos fits with the growing empire Omaha has built at ESPN, starting with Peyton’s Places in 2019 and breaking out with the success of Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli, better known as the Manningcast.
“I think anything where you can take people behind the ropes … everybody wants to see that,” Peyton said. “And also celebrating the hard work that these guys have put in…. I think that’s what Omaha is trying to do: Celebrate hard work, celebrate people.”
While Peyton starred in some of Omaha’s first shows, the company has since expanded to highlight other talent, from Abby Wambach to Stephen A. Smith. With Caesars sponsoring and ESPN once again partnering, Omaha has also branched out into audio programming.
As it continues expanding, Omaha has been evaluating potential investors, too. Conversations with Peter Chernin’s content studio were first reported in November.
“I’m in talks and trying to decide who might be the best kind of strategic partner but at the same time just trying to do the work ourselves,” Peyton said. “All we’ve tried to do is just go to work.”
Sounds exactly like what you might hear at the passing academy.
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