Eli Manning Admits Peyton Manning Cheated While Playing Video Games Growing Up

Anyone with a sibling that grew up in the 1980s or later has likely <a href="https://comicvibe.com/prime-video-to-hold-blade-runner-2099-experience-at-nycc-2026/” title=”Prime Video To Hold Blade Runner 2099 Experience at NYCC 2026″>experienced some legendary video game blowups.

Peyton and Eli Manning are no different.

The two brothers, who both played in the National Football League, grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s and 1990s. Peyton was the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft out of Tennessee. Eli Manning was later the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft out of Ole Miss.

While Peyton and Eli had some famous on-field battles, they had some epic video game battles, too.

Eli Manning told Barstool Sports that his favorite video game of all-time is Contra, a run and gun video game released in 1987.

The legendary NFL quarterback made it clear to viewers that you shouldn’t use special codes or cheating in the game, though.

“If you can do that, you’re a true gamer,” he said.

Eli Manning added that he and Peyton Manning would play the original Tecmo Bowl. That game, released in 1987, only had a few play options. Eli Manning told Barstool Sports that Peyton would cheat by sitting behind his brother and seeing what play he picked, so he could call the proper opposing play.

“If you guess the play in football…it’s like an automatic sack, he cheated every time and I never beat him,” he said.

Everyone hates the screen looker in video games, though it’s unsurprising that two brothers would deal with this kind of issue while growing up.

This story was originally published byThe Spunon Oct 7, 2026, where it first appeared in theNFLsection. Add The Spun as aPreferred