Will Ferrell hilariously ribbed former NFL star quarterback Eli Manning after he fumbled an attempt at impersonating the SNL actor.
Ferrell was a guest on Monday night’s edition of ManningCast, an alternate live TV broadcast of Monday Night Football co-hosted by Manning and his older brother, Peyton Manning–also an ex-NFL star known as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
During the program, Ferrel was presented with an instant replay clip of Eli Manning mimicking Ferrell's famous "Ma, Meatloaf!" line from his cameo in the 2005 movie Wedding Crashers.
When asked what he thought of the impression, and given the option of rating it a 1 or a 2 on a scale of 1-10, Ferrell didn't give Manning an easy pass.
“It’s probably about a, I’ll say like a 1.1," said Ferrell and clarified:
“I mean, 1 for effort, 1 for giving it a shot. It’s definitely not a 2.”
Will Ferrell gives Eli Manning's Will Ferrell impression a 1.1 out of 10 and offers tips. \n\n"There's some rage behind it... this guy had some rage, so it was more like, MA, MEATLOAF!" #MNF— Awful Announcing (@Awful Announcing) 1696296379
You can watch how Ferrell delivered the line in this scene with Owen Wilson from Wedding Crashers.
Warning: NSFW language.
Wedding Crashers - "Meatloaf Scene w/ Will Ferrell" - (HD) 2005youtu.be
Ferrell continued to coach Manning with a few pointers on acting.
“It was great context, timing was good,” he said.
“You rushed it a little bit, and it’s supposed to be … you gotta have a little more, you gotta use your diaphragm."
"There’s some rage behind it."
Ferrell then demonstrated how it's really done by revisiting the iconic line.
"This guy had some rage, so it was more like, ‘MA, MEATLOAF.'”
When Manning repeated the line, he showed some improvement.
But Ferrell instructed him to have more of a "growl behind it" and repeated the line.
This time, Manning took it in a different direction, prompting Ferrell to respond:
"Why did you have to drag it out? 'Maaawww,' Why did you drag it out like that? Just bark it."
Manning made the excuse that it was a "southern drawl thing."
The interaction between the unlikely duo was a comedic touchdown.
Eli Manning saying "MA! THE MEATLOAF!" is probably the best thing I've ever witnessed on an NFL broadcast— evan romano (@evan romano) 1632796109
@awfulannouncing Eli sounds like he's still going through puberty.— You'll Get A 2nd And Like It! (@You'll Get A 2nd And Like It!) 1696298922
Eli Manning unintentionally doing a John C. Reilly impression for Will Ferrell is actually pretty funny.— Jake Trowbridge (@Jake Trowbridge) 1696296207
@Rob_Shenanigans like a dog with peanut butter stuck to the roof of their mouth— JoeGun (@JoeGun) 1696296065
@ActionNetworkHQ I\u2019m weak! \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02— Tim McLaughlin (@Tim McLaughlin) 1696295818
Will Ferrell and Eli Manning are my favorite comedy duo of the year— Kyle Sanderson (@Kyle Sanderson) 1696295457
After Ferrell barked the order one last time for good measure, a seemingly defeated Manning commented:
"My mom's starting to come down here. She's freaking out here, she doesn't know what's going on."
"She's getting concerned."
Oh, well. Drama class dismissed.