Mama, he’s coming home.
Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who now lives with his wife and four kids in Summit, New Jersey, is going back to his hometown of New Orleans for the 2025 Super Bowl — and he means that literally.
“The best part of going to the Super Bowl this year is that I get to stay with my parents,” Manning, 44, tells PEOPLE of heading to NOLA for the week leading up to the big game on Sunday, Feb. 9.
Manning, who grew up in the Garden District with his mom Olivia and father, famed New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, plus his two brothers Cooper, 50, and Peyton, 48, is excited to feel like a little kid again.
“My mom’s going to be making me breakfast every morning,” he says with a laugh, of the house he grew up in and his parents still live in.
“So that’ll be a lot of fun to be there, to get to see my parents, and both my brothers will be there too. So it’s almost like a family reunion for the Super Bowl this year.”
Former Mississippi and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, left, stands with his mother Olivia Manning, center and his father, former Mississippi and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, during the son’s football jersey retirement ceremony during an NCAA college football game against LSU in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
Manning, who retired from the NFL in 2020 after winning two Super Bowls with the Giants, is currently promoting the upcoming Verizon Fan Fest event, which is giving Verizon customers the chance to watch the Super Bowl for free at major stadiums around the country.
They’ll also get to enjoy fan experiences like getting on the field, meeting former NFL players and enjoying local music and food and drink in each city.
“I think just the fact that fans can actually go to the stadiums, can even go on the field and be there with local NFL Legends, have some local food, watch local artists playing the music is awesome,” Manning says of the upcoming event.
Verizon Super Bowl Fanfest allows Verizon customers to watch tehe game at stadiums around the country.
Courtesy of Verizon
He adds, “It’s just a great way to take in the Super Bowl with your family and friends. And it’s free.”
As for his own past Super Bowl wins? He says it’s a feeling that’s impossible to forget.
“You just think about how it all happened,” he says of what it feels like in the moment of winning. “What you had to do, the hard work, the commitment, the dedication, the lucky breaks, the bounces that went your way.”
He adds that both of his Super Bowl wins weren’t exactly expected.
“In both cases, we kind of snuck into the playoffs and then just went on a run,” he says of the Giants clinching the championships in 2008 and 2012. “So we were just fortunate. But it’s just an awesome experience going into the locker room afterward, just hugging every teammate, hugging every coach.”
He adds, “And the best part about winning championships, even 15 years later, when I see those guys and those teammates that you won championships with, it is an automatic hug. And you hold on tight just a little bit longer, because you went through something so special together.”
