Giants Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning acted in the team's schedule release video.
The NFL schedule release is an opportunity for teams to show off their creativity, and the New York Giants’ social team has the advantage of collaborating with legendary quarterback Eli Manning for projects like this.
On Thursday night, the Giants unveiled their 2022 schedule in a 2:25 video on Twitter with the caption “Eli’s TOP SECRET project 🤫”
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Eli’s TOP SECRET project 🤫
In the video, Manning delivers a handful of zingers. He makes a joke about being elite, references his infamous double middle finger on ESPN and flashes his shirtless beach photo in one of his desk drawers. His older brother Peyton even makes a cameo in the video.
But the best line in the video is a dig at one of New York’s division rivals. It happens at the 0:35 mark in the video, right after a Washington Commanders logo flashes on the screen.
“Who are the Commanders?” Eli asks while quizzically staring into a computer screen. “When did that happen?”
When Manning retired from the NFL following the 2019 season, the Washington Commanders were still known as the “Washington Redskins.” The franchise dropped its nickname during the 2020 offseason and played as the “Washington Football Team” for the next two seasons. The full rebrand was completed when the franchise adopted the name “Commanders” and unveiled new uniforms this offseason.
The Giants dominated Washington for most of Manning’s career. In 29 career games versus Washington, Manning compiled a 19-10 record. Manning’s 19 wins against Washington are the most he claimed against any one NFL franchise in his career.
Even in retirement, it seems like Eli is still having fun dunking on his old division rival.
Some More Schedule Fun on Social Media
For the fans who just want a clean schedule graphic without having to watch two-plus minutes of Eli clowning around his office at the team headquarters, the Giants have you covered right here.
If you’re craving more jokes about the schedule, the Giants also shared this video. It’s a screen recording of the team sending direct messages to various opponents.
We DM’d some of our opponents 😬
There are a couple decent one-liners in here, including another shot at the Washington name change. The Dallas Cowboys dig is a reference to the team bringing its own heated benches to Washington when they played last season.
The best DM in this video was probably the one sent to the Chicago Bears, which thanked them for offensive tackle Evan Neal. The Giants selected Neal with the seventh-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, which they originally received in a trade with the Bears during last year’s draft.
The Chargers Won Schedule Release Day
While the Giants did a fine job on social media with their schedule release, it’s fun to look around the league and see what other teams did.
As usual, the Los Angeles Chargers had the most celebrated schedule release video. They went all out and turned their entire schedule into a fictional anime episode.
Should we REALLY make our schedule release video an anime?
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The digs at the Jacksonville Jaguars (Urban Meyer) and Cleveland Browns (Deshaun Watson) are absolutely savage in this video. You don’t have to be a Chargers fan to appreciate this level of NFL comedy. Well done, L.A.