The “Manning Curse” is sweeping the NFL this season. Patriots rookie Mac Jones is going his own unique way in dealing with requests from brothers Eli and Peyton Manning for their show.

Munich – While the “Madden Curse” has been ubiquitous and widely feared in the NFL over the years, another threat has been added to star players in 2021: The “Manning Curse”.

Most recently this season, former star quarterback brothers Eli and Peyton Manning have their own show parallel to the Monday Night Game on “ESPN”. And when two future Hall of Famers invite you to their show, of course the stars don’t wait long.

Travis Kelce, Russell Wilson, Rob Gronkowski, Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady and Josh Allen have done the honours so far. What fate united all the active players after their guest appearances? All of them lost the following game with their teams after the show visit.

Curious coincidence or really bad karma? Opinions are divided on this. However, rumours persist that the first players are already timidly responding to future invitations. Since Week 8, at least, no active NFL player has been a guest.

Manning curse: Mac Jones shrugs off Peyton

The Mannings nevertheless remain persistent in their attempts at contact. The latest example is rookie quarterback Mac Jones of the New England Patriots.

This one, however, leaves no doubt at all about the end of the current Patriots high. “MJ10” not only skilfully circumvents the curse, but goes one step further and, if possible, directly wards off Manning enquiries.

As Peyton Manning explained during Monday Night’s game against the Buffalo Bills, the rookie playmaker politely referred him to the Patriots’ PR department prior to the game.

Jones also didn’t respond to a past enquiry from the former Colts and Broncos quarterback until two days later. Whereupon brother Eli put his foot down and told Peyton to finally leave Bill Belichick’s protégé alone.

“Stop harassing the kid during his prep. Leave him a voicemail and just get out of his way,” former Giant Eli teased.

Eli wants Peyton to leave Mac Jones alone

“Stop bothering the guy during preparation. … Leave him a voice memo and just get out of his way.” pic.twitter.com/F26rKFnPet

– NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 7, 2021