NFL legend Peyton Manning makes hilarious plea to Pope Leo XIV to join ESPN show
By Matt Reed
The NFL already has some of the highest ratings in the world of sports television and streaming, but one of ESPN's programs would absolutely explode if they were able to get the guest that former quarterback Peyton Manning pitched during Monday Night Football's ManningCast when the Chicago Bears took on the Minnesota Vikings.
RELATED: Over 17 million people watched YouTube NFL stream of Chiefs-Chargers
The Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli, did their normal Manningcast show when the Vikings took down their NFC North foe on Monday night, but during the program the former Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts signal caller revealed that he reached out to one of the most important religious figures in the world to join the show.
Peyton Manning handwrote a letter to Pope Leo XIV, hoping to get him on the Manningcast.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 9, 2025
"Come on the show anytime. It's you, it's Tiger Woods, it's Bradley Cooper, it's President Bush, it's Larry David...We'd love to have you, Your Holiness."pic.twitter.com/ElC44EJKkG
Manning joked about the big-time guests that he wants to have one the show in the future, including Tiger Woods, Bradley Cooper and former president George W. Bush, but in this instance the ESPN analyst said that he actually wrote a hand-written note to Pope Leo XIV about coming onto the Manningcast because of his connection to the Bears as a Chicago sports fan.
When the new pope was revealed earlier in 2025, many stories came out about his fandom, including the fact that he was spotted over two decades ago at the 2005 MLB World Series when the Chicago White Sox won the championship.
GET MORE TOP STORIES from The Big Lead by subscribing to TBL YouTube channel
ROUNDUP: Sunday night cinema, college football 'cupcake' issue, and more
CFB: 3 biggest headlines from Week 2 of 2025 college football season
CFB: Bill Belichick gives blunt answer to why Patriots scouts are banned from Chapel Hill
MLB: Mets' last World Series-winning manager dies at 82
NBA: Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer denies $28 million Kawhi Leonard allegations
SPORTS MEDIA: ESPN’s Orlovsky compares Philadelphia Eagles duo to Brady and Belichick