New York Giants’ Eli Manning gets ready for SNL – NFL News
New York Giants’ quarterback and Super Bowl XLVI Most Valuable Player (MVP), Eli Manning, is all prepared to host the ‘Saturday Night Live’ show from Saturday, May 05, 2012.
The show was introduced in 1975 and a plenty of sports personalities including Manning’s elder brother, Peyton Manning, have already hosted this show before. Manning will be the 35th sports personality to host this show.
However, it was not easy for the producers of the show to persuade Eli to host this show.
Eli was also asked to host the show in 2008 soon after he won his first Super Bowl ring, but the player refused to host the show at that time, apparently because Peyton had hosted the show a year earlier and Eli thought he could not match the standards set
by his elder brother.
According to the details present on the team’s website, Eli said:
“One of the main reasons I did not do it was (because) Peyton had done so well the previous year. I thought it might be a little fresh in everyone’s mind. I didn’t want to have to go up against tough competition and the great job that he performed. It just
didn’t seem like the right time for me.”
After four years when Eli won another Super Bowl ring, the time was perfect for both the show producers and Eli to host the show.
Despite the favourable circumstances, however, it was not very easy for the producers to catch up with Eli.
Giants are undergoing their offseason workout and Eli did not want to miss any of it. He attended all the discussion sessions, participated in all the workouts, and took all the necessary reps while rehashing for the SNL.
Eli told that he utilised two days of a week meeting the producers and other cast members to rehearse the show and spent rest of the time in the team’s facility to train himself for football.
SNL’s executive producer, Lorne Michaels, has also appreciated Eli for his commitment.
Michaels said of Eli:
“I think he takes his work very seriously, but there’s this sort of essential modesty to him and I think that plays well with what we do.”
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