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Peyton Manning retired from football in 2016, but the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback is now calling the shots — and scoring touchdowns — on TV.
The Indianapolis Colts legend has found his calling in media and entertainment, with shows like Quarterback for Netflix and the popular Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (a.k.a. the “Manningcast”) on ESPN+. Manning is also the executive producer of The History Channel’s popular series, The Mega-Brands That Built America, which is back for a third season.
Airing Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the documentary series explores the origin stories behind the world’s biggest brands, with archival footage, recreations and interviews with stars like Manning and brother Eli Manning, plus Bill Rancic, Adam Richman, Kevin Smith and others. This season features hour-long episodes on brands like The Home Depot, Levi’s, Apple and Target, plus a look into the “Rise of the Internet Empires” (think eBay and Amazon).
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Stream ‘The Mega-Brands That Built America’
Manning produces the show under his “Omaha Productions” umbrella, with the name of his company stemming from a word the quarterback used at the line of scrimmage to signal a change in strategy. The NFL Hall of Famer says working behind the scenes on Mega-Brands has been just as exciting as calling plays on the field.
“I guess you could say I’ve always been a little bit of a history buff,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I think if you ask my mom or any of my teachers growing up, they would tell you that history was always one of my favorite subjects in school, whether it was world history, history of sports, history of military, history of country music… just lots of different topics.”
Plus the NFL star adds, “I love being a part of shows that are outside of sports.”
Rolling Stone caught up with Manning to talk about his new TV series, how his kids are influencing his current music tastes, and the surprising reason he didn’t get his first smartphone until he was almost 40.
How is producing a show similar or different from playing football?
I think what I miss the most about playing football is being a part of the team. This kind of puts me on a different team, and I’ve enjoyed learning a lot about the content space. And we’ve hired some really talented people at Omaha that are experts in this space, and I love learning from them, and I love being a part of shows where I’m not necessarily the quarterback or front and center, but rather like the offensive coordinator on the sidelines, like I am on this show. I can offer my thoughts or two cents or be a part of it with a little small role, but watch it all come together behind the scenes.
What kind of response have you received from the show? What is something viewers can take away from it?
I think the great part about this show is that the viewer is learning something new about so many of the brands or products or companies that we probably take for granted in our everyday lives. It’s easy to forget how reliant we are on something like an iPhone or a Xerox machine at the office, or being able to walk into Walmart and get pet food and a bike in the same shopping trip. We interact and depend on these brands daily. So I just think it’s cool to learn more about them, kind of get their origin stories and see how they became so integral in our everyday lives.
Speaking of an iPhone, one of the episodes this season focuses on Apple and you actually share a funny Apple story…
I told the story on one of the episodes, but I actually held out as long as I could on the smartphone. I had a flip phone up until 2011-2012 and when I became a free agent, that’s what finally got me on board with the iPhone. I was released by the Colts in 2012 and I was a free agent, and you know, NFL teams were sending me information on their coaching staff, on their offense, kind of via email. I was trying to make a decision on what team to go for so I needed an iPhone to be able to download their attachments in order to be more informed, and to talk and to meet with these different teams; I needed to be able to get that information. And so I would say it’s probably true that if I never became a free agent, I probably would still have a flip phone today.
Sports is known for bringing people together, but you say that a show like this can bring people together too. How so?
I think every topic and every company discussed is relatable to all of us today. It doesn’t matter where you live, what your religious beliefs are, or what your political views are. We all can relate to the ease of shopping at a “Mega Mart” store like a Target or Kmart or Walmart; we all can relate to how Apple products have streamlined our lives. I think this show highlights our common experiences with these brands. Also, one of the core tenets at Omaha is that we want to champion hard work, and that’s exactly what this series is all about. We’re celebrating the hard work of all the people behind the scenes at these huge brands that have literally built America.
Since this is for Rolling Stone, I have to ask about your current music tastes. Who are some of the artists you’re listening to right now?
I always sort of cave to my kids when we’re in the car to what music they want to listen to, and I let them get on my Spotify and pick whatever song they want to listen to. They both like country music, which is what I like, so we all are kind of on the same page there. My daughter loves Luke Combs, and I like Luke Combs, so we listen to a lot of Luke when we’re in the car. Jordan Davis, we obviously like him a lot. And you know, some of my favorites range from Kenny Chesney to George Strait to Brooks and Dunn. We love music, and it’s always on in our car or as we’re talking, so it’s certainly a big part of our lives.
You can watch The Mega-Brands That Built America on TV through The History Channel or stream it online with a live TV service like Philo or DirecTV (get a seven-day free trial to Philo here). New episodes stream weekly on Sunday nights and you can watch episodes on-demand on history.com the day after they air live on TV.
