Eli Manning SNL: Awkward Promos Don't Bode Well for QB's Appearance on Show

When Peyton Manning hosted SNL, he was legitimately good. When Charles Barkley did the same, it was pretty rough. And Barkley is generally a pretty funny guy.

If Blake Griffin hosted SNL, I don't doubt he would be legitimately good. When Eli Manning does the same, I can't shake the notion that it's going to be pretty rough.

And the promos he cut for NBC haven't done much to change my mind.

Here's how this will work: Manning will go out and clumsily do the monologue written for him, which will be sort of funny and sort of awkward, like most monologues are.

He'll then hit the show, where his timing will be a little bit off and the acting will seem forced, but the professionals around him we'll carry him through each scene.

At some point, there will be skits that play off his "Aw, shucks" nature, the fact that Peyton is his older brother, maybe something about how he continues to beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, something perhaps playing off the idea that he's always looked younger than he is and a few other sports-related bits that will make sense to sports fans, but might confuse the average viewer.

I've said it before and I'll say it again—it's likely going to be pretty awkward, and not in the funny, Michael Scott sort of way. He's a professional, so he'll get through it, but there is the likelihood that it might be a bit hard to watch at times.

Watch the promos—he's got the comedic timing of Bill Belichick.

Alright, so he's a little funnier than that, but you catch my drift.

Now, I don't doubt some intrepid New York Giants fan will read my profile, discover I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan and accuse me of hating on Eli Manning for that very reason. I've been down this path before.

So let me instead give you a quick list off the top of my head of all of the athletes in professional sports I would actually want to see host SNL because I think they are legitimately funny or goofy enough to pull it off:

Blake Griffin, Steve Nash, Brian Wilson, Dwight Howard (his impressions are pretty damn good), Peyton Manning.

That's it.

Being funny is hard, and athletes generally aren't good at pulling off the type of funny that works on a skit show.

See, I'm not hating on Eli Manning—I'm just pointing out sociological truths.

Or something like that.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets make moves like Bill Belichick.