Eli Manning Goes Undercover in New York with the Savannah Bananas

New Yorkers surprised by Eli Manning in disguise as he played the role of umpire in Sunday nights Savannah Banana game versus the Firefighters!

May 24, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Dancing umpire Vincent Chapman twerks before a Savannah Bananas game at Huntington Park on Friday evening. / Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

When you think of the title “The Master of Disguise” you might think of a chameleon, Ethan Hunts legendary mask work in the “Mission Impossible” franchise, Waldo or maybe even the  2002 Dana Carvey adventure comedy film of the same name. If you were in Yankee Stadium Sunday evening though I think you would agree that moniker might be most fitting for former New York Giant Quarterback Eli Manning.

If Mannings are football royalty, I think most would view Eli as Prince Harry or Harry the royal son formerly known as Prince. In New York though the only way Peyton outshines Eli is if he is at 30 Rock on stage in Studio 8H. Eli brought two Superbowl victories to the city so nice they named it twice. He did so in spectacular fashion engineering late game drives as a massive underdog versus the undefeated Patriots and Tom Brady in 2008 then again robbing the GOAT of another title in 2012.

His first undercover assignment was apart of an episode of “Eli’s Places” on ESPN+ where he wore a wig and mustache as he tried out for the Penn State Football team as a freshman walk on. It didn’t take too long before people started to notice a walk on dropping in 60-yard-deep balls and moving with expert footwork in the pocket. Next undercover attempt was as a FedEx delivery man, Del Liveryman. He walked the course for the FedEx St. Jude Championship for the FedEx Championship heckling tour pros and interrupting backswings with boxes to be delivered. 

So, what would be his next act of deception? You guessed it, special guest for the Bananas game at Yankee Stadium. You would think the Superbowl champion QB and 41 year old Penn State walk-on gunslinger would make his debut on the mound but instead chose a different role. After a questionable call at the bottom of the fifth inning was challenged the 1st base umpire appeared to come unglued as he approached everyone’s favorite twerking ump, Vincent Chapman and proceeded to kick dirt on him. Just when it looked like the scuffle might escalate Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole came out and informed the crowd of the imposter among them!

Eli stripped off his hat and glasses as well as his umpire shirt to reveal his number 10 Giants jersey! After throwing a Giants football and his Giants jersey into the crowd he rocked a yellow Bananas Jersey T with the number 1.

The Bananas posted a video showing Eli getting his “costume” on and getting into character while also watching the Giants game on his phone. Eli later commented on that post “I got this undercover thing down”. Well unlike Eli’s Giants the fans inside the ballpark all won that night as Eli provided a lift during the 2nd sold out show in a row of over 49,000 in attendance. I missed this one for sure in my article about my wish list for celebrity guest but check back as we take another shot at guessing who will be dropping in Seattle at T-Mobile Park on September 19th and 20th!

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Eli Manning, New York, Savannah Bananas

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