Eli Manning had one final gift to give to Chad Powers before he fully ceded the characters fate to star Glen Powell and showrunner Michael Waldron.

In episode three of Hulus Chad Powers, Powells Powers enters a game in relief to injured South Georgia Catfish starter Gerry Dougan (Colton Ryan) and carries the team to a last-minute, come-from-behind victory over the University of Mississippi Rebels, colloquially known as Ole Miss. The South Georgia sideline erupts; those on the Ole Miss side had a different reaction. (Who) the fuck is that guy? a surprised, unhappy Eli Manning asks.

Manning, though clearly looking like Eli Manning at his alma mater, is actually not playing Eli Manning hes acting as an Ole Miss coach, The Hollywood Reporter is told.

Omaha let us know, like, Yeah, [Eli] is gonna come visit set, maybe do some press stuff with Glen, and we were always saying, Weve got to do a cameo with him, Waldron said. We knew they were going to be playing Ole Miss that felt like the right way.

In the script, the coach character did not swear.

Obviously, he has one line. I hope it plays as a somewhat shocking line, if you know Eli, he continued. He was just so game. That wasnt what the line was in the script, and we were like, What if you said fuck?

The fuck he did literally.

Manning is not the only Easter egg in the scene. Standing next to him with a coachs headset on is Powells own father, Glen Powell Sr.

Glen Powell in Chad Powers Daniel Delgado/Disney Chad Powers is an adaptation of a viral 2022 prank from Eli Mannings ESPN+ series, Elis Places, a spinoff of big brothers Peytons Places. In the sketch, the 41-year-old retired New York Giants great goes undercover at Penn States annual walk-on tryouts via a wig and facial prostheses/makeup as Chad Powers, a home-schooled, mom-coached quarterback. He looks funny (and way old) and sounds funny, but Chads arm is no joke. It the end, Manning and the Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin the only two in on the gag reveal Powers secret identity.

Somehow that turned into this.

Hulus Chad Powers follows disgraced Oregon Ducks quarterback Russ Holliday nearly a decade after he blew the national championship game and the next eight years of his life. To get back into football, Holliday goes undercover as Chad Powers at the fictitious South Georgia University, which is desperate for a new QB. Its a good thing his dad works in Hollywood hair and makeup.

Powers next victim is Peyton Mannings old school, the University of Tennessee. This time, Powers, now the consensus QB1, lights up the opposition for 343 yards passing, 75 yards rushing, and four TDs. To recap: Powers just barely eked out a win against Elis school but he absolutely lit up Peytons.

That was my only suggestion to the plot of the show, Eli Manning joked in a Zoom with THR.

It didnt go unnoticed.

Certain times you just gotta swallow your pride and say, This is the best thing for the show, Peyton Manning told THR in a separate call. [Chad Powers] is Elis baby, too. Eli helped create this and went for it, so I felt like he had a little more editorial say than I did, probably, in this one.

Brothers are gonna be brothers.

Read THRs Aug. 20 Chad Powers cover story featuring Powell, the Mannings, Waldron and more here.