Yahoo Finance Eli Manning Talks Sibling Rivalries as the Kelce Brothers Prepare to Face Off in the Super Bowl
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Eli Manning knows a thing or two about sibling rivalries.
When chatting about his latest partnership with Quaker Oats, the former quarterback of the New York Giants — and younger bro of superstar QB Peyton Manning — shared his thoughts on the Kelce brothers' history-making, Super Bowl moment.
"It's unbelievable," Eli, 42, tells PEOPLE exclusively of Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs becoming the first siblings to ever play against each other in the Super Bowl. "Just from having played games against my brother, I know their parents must be so proud."
Although Eli and Peyton played against each other in games over the course of their NFL seasons, they've never battled it out for the championship title — despite both being two-time Super Bowl winners themselves.
"In a Super Bowl, it's going to be pretty cool during the national anthem to look across the field and see your brother standing there knowing y'all are both in the biggest game of the year and fighting for a championship," says Eli.
RELATED: Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce: Everything to Know About the NFL Brothers
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While playing in the big game undoubtedly has its highs (of which the ultimate is snagging the win and claiming the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy), it also has its lows. "Losing a Super Bowl is not fun," says Eli.
Regardless of lacking that experience himself (having gone two for two with Super Bowl wins in 2008 and 2012 with the Giants, earning MVP in both games), he does note that losing is "a little bit different than losing a regular season game."
Why? Because they won't "have a game the following week that you can get back on track or fight for the playoffs."
Travis Kelce Instagram
Surely the Super Bowl is divisive between the fans of opposing teams, but if there are two people who might feel the pressure tenfold, it'd be Jason and Travis' mom and dad. "It will be nerve racking, obviously, for the parents," says Eli
But he has a tip for Donna and Ed Kelce: "Since both the players play on offense, it makes it a little bit easier," Eli begins. "They just root for the offense, rooting for high scoring offense score every time type situation."
Plus, it helps that both brothers have won the Super Bowl before — Jason in 2018 with the Eagles and Travis in 2020 with the Chiefs.
Optimism aside, there has to be one winner at the end. What makes it even harder? "This is the last game, so it's tough to deal with defeat," says Eli. "I assume it's hard to be so happy for one child when the other one is going through a tough moment."
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Quaker
But either way, the veteran football player says it is "definitely [a win-win for their mom]. She's just proud of her boys because they each made it to the Super Bowl."
While the Mannings and the Kelces know what it's like to go to the big game, Eli wants to give fans a chance to experience that same thrill — which is why he's "excited" to invited them to participate in Quaker's Pregrain Contest, giving fans a chance to attend next year's Super Bowl in person.
"I've been a big fan of Quaker for the last, I'd say the last 12 years. Pretty much every day for breakfast I've had my oatmeal and so this partnership just made a lot of sense," says Eli. Fans can head to TikTok to showcase how they "pregrain" before a game, using hashtag #QuakerPregrain and #Entry to enter to win.
