“You’re Like the Tom Brady of Being in Commercials”: Nikki Glaser Once Brutally Roasted Peyton Manning on Stage

Some NFL fans claim that Peyton Manning is arguably the greatest quarterback ever, even surpassing Tom Brady. And arguably, his illustrious career backs it up. While TB12 has him beat in postseason success, The Sheriff tops his counterpart in regular-season awards and playoff head-to-head wins. It’s one of the best “would you rather” questions you could ask at a Super Bowl party. There’d be some solid debates.

However, where there wouldn’t be any debate is in the world of commercials. Very few NFL players shine on screen like Manning. His natural wit and comedic charm come through effortlessly on television and are a constant hit with fans. It’s why he still gets offered gigs for new brands even today.

From his debut in a 2013 SNL skit called United Way, to his modern-day Paintin’ Manning commercials with Nationwide, he has owned sports TV breaks for the past decade. In fact, you could make a top 5 or 10 list just to rank the sheer number of commercials he’s been in.

This takes us back to last year’s Comedy Central Roast, when Nikki Glaser delivered a hilarious joke about the former Bronco. It started off as a compliment and slowly turned into a backhanded one.

“Love Peyton in commercials… you’re so good in them. Like, I’d say you’re the greatest of all time, you’re like the Tom Brady of being in commercials,” Glaser quipped. 

Now, on the surface, it sounds like a compliment, right? After all, Manning is excellent in commercials, as we’ve established. So why did people find it so funny?

Well, because she essentially crowned Brady as the better quarterback of the two with that comment. It was indirect, but the message was clear. The crowd started off cheering for Manning before slowly realizing just how funny the backhanded compliment was. Even Peyton had to chuckle.

But don’t worry, Manning fans, the roasting is a two-way street. Glaser famously went viral for telling some edgy jokes at The Roast of Tom Brady in 2024. They were jokes that Brady himself wasn’t too fond of, and he was seen not laughing while an S-tier roaster in Glaser played to the energy of the crowd.

Here’s a clip from her segment:

So, Manning got off with a slap on the wrist here. Surely, if Glaser wanted to tear him to shreds and have us on our hands and knees like she did with Brady, she could have. But he wasn’t the focus of the night, and she just briefly nicked him with a joke that still makes us laugh today, even Peyton laughed along with it.