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By James Brizuela
Contributing Writer
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Former NFL quarterback and New York Giants legend Eli Manning has a wealth of accolades, including two Super Bowl wins and being an Emmy-winning broadcaster. Now, he is switching gears to take on a job he has never done before: referee.
Manning has partnered with Toyota will serve as a referee for the "Glow Up Classic," which is a glow-in-the-dark flag football all-star game for standout female athletes from the Bay Area, played on the same field as the Pro Bowl.
Manning will be joined by fellow referee Kylie Kelce. Additionally, multiple NFL players will serve as team captains and coordinators for both the offense and defense. Those players are as follows:
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Brock Purdy, Jordan Love - Team Captains
Christian Gonzalez, Kyle Hamilton - Defensive Coordinators
Michael Pittman, Puka Nacua - Offensive Coordinators
Manning sat down with Newsweek Sports to discuss being a referee for the first time, what John Harbaugh means for the Giants, his Super Bowl pick, and more.
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What can you say about your partnership with Toyota?
"I've been around football my entire life, played flag football growing up, played in Super Bowls, and Toyota has given me an opportunity to do something that I've never done before, and that is to be a referee. Yes, I'm reffing the Glow Up Classic, which is a glow-in-the-dark flag football game between some of the best female athletes in the Bay Area during Super Bowl week. And excited about that opportunity, just so thankful for Toyota and everything they're doing and growing the game of football and their investment of over $3 million annually into flag football and youth sports.
"And that affects over 300,000 kids getting involved in football and playing flag football. So excited to be a part of that. Kylie Kelce and I will be refereeing the game. We got Brock Purdy and Jordan Love as the coaches, and some great female athletes out there, so excited for this opportunity to be a ref. Kylie and I have been discussing the last few weeks, what is a catch? And we've been watching film. We figure it out."
Are you mentally prepared to catch that flak in case coaches, players, or others don't like your calls?
"Of course, you know, I think I always treated refs with respect, you know, never yelled at a ref. Always, always had a great relationship. And so I think that's going to come back to help me. I think, you know, no controversial calls. We'll keep it fair, you know, try to, you know, just make sure you know everybody has a great time."
With Manning being a longtime quarterback for the Giants, he saw what the organization was and has become. With John Harbaugh now the new head coach, he spoke about what it means to bring in a pure winner.
What do you think John Harbaugh brings to the Giants organization that hasn't been there in recent years?
"I think just that winning attitude. He's had so much success there in Baltimore, and that belief that no matter you know the circumstances of a game of a season, how they're going, that we can, we can win this game, we can get back and you know, just that accountability, that that he brings every single day, not just to to the to the players, but to the whole organization and everybody you know, raising their level of performance of play every single day. And so excited for what he brings, the person that he is, the coach that he is, and bringing that attitude and demeanor to the Giants organization that we couldn't have asked for a better situation."
Jaxson Dart is a young and dynamic quarterback that got into some injury troubles with his tough running. Do you think that is something he will need to correct for his future playing career?
"Well, you know, I was very impressed with Jackson. I've known him a long time, since his days at Ole Miss, and I thought he came in and did a great job of making plays, of kind of understanding the timing of the offense when they get the ball out, when to extend plays and make plays. And you see him, you know he can be successful in so many different ways of throwing the ball, on time, right away, of design runs of and then the improv plays where either he scrambles for plays or extends plays in the pocket and makes, you know, throws down the field.
"So having that ability to be productive in so many different ways makes you a very hard quarterback to defend. And so just excited to see him grow within that, and obviously understanding the most important thing as a quarterback is being out there on the field and staying healthy, and being, you know, being ready to play each and every week. And so that's part of being a young quarterback is learning that and how to just make sure that you know you can be aggressive and you can go out there and try to make plays, but you've got to stay healthy. And I think he's earned the respect of his teammates. Everybody knows or questioned his toughness. Now it's about playing smart in critical situations, in certain situations, to make sure you can be out there on the field for every play."
Philip Rivers came out of retirement in a very shocking situation. Would you have been able to do the same thing if you were put in that situation?
"I could have, you know, handed the ball off and thrown some screen passes, and the ball would have been coming out very quickly, all right, not going to get hit anymore, you know, so I was, I was impressed with Philip. He was able to come out there, play, well, throw some touchdowns, and I'm sure he loved it. You know, you missed the locker room, you missed competing, you missed being out there on game day. And everything goes towards it. But I'm fine just sitting behind the screen on my couch, talking about football rather than being out there right now."
Who are your conference champions and your Super Bowl pick for this season?
I think Seattle has got something special going on. Their defense is playing great. Sam Darnold is playing great. They run the football. You know the fact that they're playing the Rams, a divisional team, and they know each other so well, I think is interesting. It will make it a close game, and the Rams and McVay and Matthew Stafford have the ability to score on them, and they've done that already this season. But I just think Seattle kind of has that special, special season going right now, and they'll be tough to beat, and I do think New England, you know, will pull it out.
"But you know, this Denver, this Denver team has won so many games, close games and fourth quarter comebacks, and they've made it tough all year to win, and so they have that belief and that ability to overcome everything. And Jarret Stidham has been around, and he's been in the system, and he can run this offense. So I think, you know, I think all games will be tight. I think both games could go either way. But you know, I think, I think, you know, I think it will be Patriots and Seahawks, and I think the Patriots can pull out another, another Super Bowl win."
To see the full interview, watch the video above.
For more NFL news, head to Newsweek Sports.
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