To be fair, he and Peyton were calling a game in Philly

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Eli Manning, who on Sunday was inducted into the New York Giants Ring of Honor, flipped the ol’ double bird on live TV Monday while calling the Cowboys-Eagles game on the ESPN2 version of “Monday Night Football.” The alternative-viewing option with Eli and Peyton Manning (and guests) is commonly referred to as the ManningCast.

In the moment, Eli was demonstrating how he was received in rival Philadelphia, even by kids. He later apologized for the gesture. The whole thing was in good, clean fun (to 99% of people, we imagine) — especially to Eli and Peyton Manning’s guest, Chris Long.

Yeah, Long sure got a kick out of the whole thing. And he knows: the son of Fox NFL analyst and Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long played defensive line for the Eagles.

“You go to Philly, I mean, you’re getting the double bird right away from a 9-year-old kid,” Eli said while demonstrating the obscene gesture on what is officially titled “Monday Night Football With Peyton and Eli.” “I would give the bird — I dunno, can we do that? I’m sure you could blur that out, right? It’s over now, so.”

His apology went like this: “All right, all right, sorry. Earlier, I gave the double bird. I guess that’s frowned upon. So I apologize if I offended anybody. That’s what a 9-year-old did to me, I thought I could do it back.”

Watch the videos at the bottom of this post.

The Giants and the Eagles have a particularly heated rivalry, and Philadelphia fans are generally considered some of the toughest (you can read that as “rudest”) in the country.

Readers can probably figure out by now where this writer’s loyalty lies. And if not, here’s a personal photo from Eli’s jersey induction this weekend:

Anyway, stupid Dallas crushed the stupid Eagles last night, 41-21.

Produced by ESPN in conjunction with Omaha Productions, the Manning (and guests) MegaCast option originates from a remote location. Viewers are treated to “a mix of in-the-moment analysis, big-picture NFL dialogue, knee-jerk reaction, historical perspective and more,” as ESPN puts it.

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