Peyton Manning and Eli Manning were two of the best pocket passers in NFL history. Their calm under pressure and quick release made them highly efficient quarterbacks. However, their success came despite one major weakness: they were among the slowest quarterbacks in the league. Neither was known for athleticism, and they only got slower with age.
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So, what would happen if the two raced each other today? Who would win?
Tom Brady has managed to slightly improve his 40-yard dash time over the years thanks to his commitment to fitness. But can the same be said for the Manning brothers?
About a year and a half ago, during an episode of the ManningCast, Patrick Mahomes asked them a playful question: “If you raced today, who would win?” Eli quickly raised his hand, confidently claiming victory. Peyton, on the other hand, found the idea laughable and said it would be more of an embarrassment than a race—something nobody would want to see.
Their show’s social media team took the joke and ran with it—literally. They posted a humorous animation of the brothers racing: Peyton with a walking stick and oversized binoculars, and Eli using a walker.
Eli, never missing a chance to poke fun, joked that Peyton wouldn’t make it far with those heavy binoculars—especially with that famously oversized head of his.
Peyton Manning, during the same episode of the ManningCast, revealed that during his senior year of high school, he ran a 40-yard dash in 4.99 seconds—at least according to the coaches at the football camp he attended. Though, as Peyton admitted with a grin, they might have been lying.
Still, he’s confident he’s faster than his younger brother Eli. Why? Because when Eli attended that same camp as a seventh grader, he clocked in at around 6.2 seconds, while wearing a helmet, for some reason. Eli, however, disputes that number, insisting it wasn’t nearly that slow.
” I went to football camp my senior year, and I ran a 40. They told me I ran a 4.99, which is a total lie. You were in the 7th grade, you ran with your helmet on for some reason, the only kid to run with his helmet on. I remember the actual number was the first time it was 6-something in 40 yards in a helmet.”
Looking at their official NFL Combine times, Peyton actually ran a 4.80, while Eli ran a 4.90. Not exactly blazing speed, but respectable for two quarterbacks known more for their arms than their legs.
Interestingly, it seems athleticism may have skipped a generation or perhaps leapfrogged one because their nephew, Arch Manning, looks far more mobile, much like his grandfather Archie. At his recent workout, Arch reportedly ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash, making him a legitimate dual-threat quarterback in the making.
That’s even faster than Patrick Mahomes, who ran a 4.80 at the Combine. Mahomes was only the sixth-fastest quarterback in his class, and his acceleration-or—or lack thereof—has since become a running joke on NFL Network. These days, he’s the subject of Simulcam comparisons with defensive linemen, even though he has begged them to stop.
