Peyton Manning Reveals He Sent a Handwritten Note to Pope Leo Asking ‘Your Holiness’ to Come on ManningCast

Peyton Manning has his eyes on a big-time guest for ManningCast.

During their Monday night broadcast on Sept. 8 as the Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, Eli Manning revealed that Peyton, 49, sent a handwritten letter to Pope Leo XIV asking him to be a guest on the show.

“I think we should let the people know that you tried to book a big time guest,” Eli, 44, said, before asking, “Is it true you failed to book Chicago native, Pope Leo?”

“Yeah, kinda like I failed to recruit Randy Moss to Tennessee, I couldn’t close the Pope,” Peyton confessed. “But I made the effort, Eli,” he continued. “That’s the kind of effort we make here at ESPN2.”

Peyton added that he “tried my hardest,” before revealing he wrote two handwritten letters sent to the Pope, whose real name is Cardinal Robert Prevost, and the Pope’s executive assistant.

“I wrote His Holiness himself, and I wrote his executive assistant. I made the effort,” Peyton explained before making another plea to the Pope during the broadcast.

“If you’re watching, Your Holiness, come on the show anytime,” he added.

Peyton then revealed his list of guests who are welcome “anytime” to be guests on the show.

“It’s you, Tiger Woods, Bradley Cooper, President [George W.] Bush, Larry David. Y’all are our most wanted for the ManningCast,” he said. “Come anytime. We’d love to have you, Your Holiness.”

Although they’re still waiting on the Pope, Eli and Peyton’s guests during the Sept. 8 show were notable.

The former NFL star brothers chatted with Moss, Eagles star Saquon Barkley and actor Bill Murray during the broadcast.

Peyton’s hopes for Pope Leo to come on the show aren’t so farfetched as the Chicago native has publicly displayed his sports fandom in the past. In June, he sported a Chicago White Sox MLB hat during an appearance at the Vatican.

And as reporters began learning more about his suburban American background, it was revealed that Pope Leo XIV actually grew up a Sox fan — even attending Game 1 of the 2005 World Series in person, where he was caught on camera during Fox’s broadcast at the time.

White Sox rookie reliever Grant Taylor even contemplated whether the pope knows who he is since he’s a fan. “The thought did come across,” Taylor told MLB.com. “I was joking with my family today, I was like, ‘I wonder if the pope knows my name.’ “