Cooper Manning on the power of a positive attitude

Some stories are funny, others are cut wrenching, but all are unapologetically human and remind us that every success and every setback is accompanied by a choice, and that choice answers one question. Now what a friend of mine said to me. He looked at my hands, He goes, damn, last time I saw hands that big. They had a Super Bowl ring on him and your mom and I think even did the hand to hand thing. I was like, mss, you were tall tall women. I like, you know another thing.

We all attracted tall, tall ladies. My mom's five eleven or so, and yeah, she's five nine or so. I mean it's short as I'll go. Yeah, I was gonna say I thought she was taller than that. But I know, but I think it's great. I go, I get around you guys, and I'm I don't feel like an Amazon anymore. That voice you just heard is my good friend, Cooper Manning. Cooper is an entrepreneur, He's a TV personality and a

wonderful husband and father. He hosts The Manning Hour on Fox Sports, and if you've watched football recently, you've likely seen him steal the show in those hilarious Caesar sports book commercials. Cooper is also part of the football famous Manning family. His dad, Archie, was a well respected NFL quarterback, and brothers Peyton and Eli are widely considered some of

the greatest quarterbacks to have played the league. As for Cooper, he was a talented player in his own right until a career ending diagnosis forced him to pivot and create a different life for himself. He is one of the most positive people I have ever met. He's so funny, and I'm so happy that he's agreed to join the show and share his incredible story with us. All here is Cooper Manning. I'm so happy to be talking to you. I miss you. I missed you this summer too. I'm

playing hard to get Is it working? Yes, it's working. In my my my heart is just exploding. When I wanted to speak to you for the podcast, my producer asked me how we knew each other, And it was funny because the first thing that I could think of would be was just going out and drinking too much tequila with you and Allen. I was like, that's the first thing. That's where most great relationships began, in my opinion,

you know totally. Well. I remember Chris was working in New Orleans, my husband, Chris, and I was working in New Orleans, and we were walking out of a restaurant and I ran into your mom and your dad, and I think the giants had just one. It was Marty Gras. They invited us immediately over to the house, and the minute you and Chris met, it was as if it was slow motion and music was playing the two of you that your eyes met, and then you found each

other and and you just hit it off immediately. I feel pretty confident that both of us left that day going that guy is so much more immature than me. Both of the same the same thing about one another. Well, I won't we won't get into some of the antics that you guys do when you're driving around town. We're going to leave that if you won't, certainly those are those are highlights of my life. So if you want those antics are already in the hip, ready loaded, ready

to fire. So if you need, they're here. But great, No, it's been so funny, you know, and you know about anyone Brook It's rare that you make really good friends later on in life, and so when you do, you cherish it. So it's been Uh, you're right, it's been too long since we've hung out, and we're we're overdue. We were, We're definitely overdo and we'll fix that. The now what audience might be a slightly new audience for you. So if you were to introduce yourself to them, how

would you how would you want to introduce yourself? Who? Who is? Who is Cooper Manning to this possibly new audience. Yeah, I'm probably known more for being the brothers of two other famous people than being independently known. Um. I have a little, little, fun, little show on Fox before football games on Sunday and called The Coop Manning Our Minus fifty eight minutes. I play a character that thinks he's really important. He's very cocky, he thinks he's the star

of the show. And that is far from the truth. And I get to interview fun NFL players, show old side of them that's not on the field, whether it's I mean getting a couple's massot massage or getting a manicure to pedicure with another player, or wrestling or you know whatever, showing another side of them that that's lighthearted, not football related at all. And so that's been fun.

It's my eighth year of doing that. And then my wife has always wanted to be married to a game show host, and so now hey, don't have a game show. So it's I'm really just racking up the points as far as uh. But I mean, you know, you brought up something, you know, someone who's been talked about mostly in relation to other entities. How does that feel to sort of just to really on your own terms carve out something that's new and fun for yourself. It's fun,

you know. I'm not I would say, I'm probably not trying too hard. Things just kind of come away and I do it, and I just I'm kind of content with my life and I do a few fun things on the side that I think let people laugh and have a little fun. But I think it's been fun. I mean, I wouldn't trade my role in the whole scheme of things. I've got to do all kind of great fun things. And Peyton Eli are great football players and now they're great, they're on TV and doing well,

and then we all get along. Well it's it's it's fine. I'm I like my role and I'm content. Well, it's also your family is such a you know what, I was amazed at, how what a what a really beautifully close knit family you were, you know, and that and that's a tribute to your mom and your dad and I mean, were you guys always always such a very close knit family and really in each other's corner. I

would say, So, my parents are great. I'm pretty lucky to have a template to watch how it's supposed to be done because they love each other, but they put their children first and and and we certainly felt that.

I was thinking about that this morning on I didn't know what you were going to ask you, but I was kind of thinking about I'm the oldest of three, and then I'm also the first grandchild, so my aunts and uncles and I was the first one, the oldest one, so I remember being kind of the star of the show from the gid go, like, you know, everybody was

making a big deal out of me. Um, well before I deserve to be a big deal, you know at two and three, and like when you walk in the room and everybody stops and you kind of have the floor and it's like entertain me. My mom was like maybe laugh, you know, and you kind of had that role and that was certainly, um, I think a part of why I'm wired the way I am. But um, yeah, everybody, everybody gets along pretty well. Do you grow up with a lot of pressure? I think, Um, my parents were

not big on complaining. You're not allowed to complain, So we were all I think independently driven. Um wanted to do well, wanted to succeed, and you know, fortunately athletics or a big part of how my dad interacted us with us. He always liked, hey, let's go out in the yard. Let's go, let's go throw I'll throw you back in practice, let's go hit tennis ball, let's go you know, catch pop flies, whatever it may be. And that was a great way of of having constant interaction.

And my mom probably deep down wanted some daughters brook but she got three boys. And she, uh, she likes her granddaughters and she likes these gals that we all married, so it works out fine for her. There's some great, great women that married into that family. But there must have been something in the water or something in the genetics of your mom and dad, because one are the chances of having two NFL stars. I mean, and you're a big family. Everybody's just a tall, handsome person. I'm

calling this show anytime you want. Um, I don't that was not like the goal. We looked up to our dad. He had played and uh, I don't think there was any secret that that he was our hero and he did things the way we we kind of wanted to emulate ourselves, and so unfortunately we were You know, my mom's side of the family is very athletic as well, and they're competitive and it's kind of part of the part of the culture. I can imagine that type of

competition is contagious. I mean your kids are all athletes. Yeah, my oldest I have a daughter who's who's in her second year in college at Virginia. She was she was very good high school. The one state championship, she was m VP, and she wrote off into the sunset now is having fun as a it's just a college college gal. And then yeah, my oldest son, Arch is a senior in high school and he's he's a quarterback and he's going off to the University of Texas next year to

play play football. And then I have another son, Hide, who's um a junior who's who starts. He's an offensive lineman, a little bigger, a little more booty to him, booty and attitude and a funny, funny boy. I think we met, didn't we meet all of them? Or they were like a little bowling ball, the greening other big bowling balls. My my girls were looking at the boys, like, Mom, I wonder what it's like to have brothers. I'm like, well, here it is there. They're a wired differently, I assure you.

I think back to what you talked about, Broke. I think that the sports are such a good life lesson because things go wrong and you lose, and you compete and you do everything right, and then you don't get the results you want. And so I thought, I've always been really gravitated toward team sports because you have to put up with people who care about it less than you do. Or that aren't as good as you, or that are better than you, And how do you deal with all those to get to where you want to be?

And the pressure. I'm sure of living up to the Manning name. I mean, do any of your children not want to go into the family business so to speak? Well, you know, I don't think we ever talked about the pressure. I thought, I just really emphasize working hard and enjoying it. Um, if you want to be really good, you're going to have to do things above and beyond what the coaches

are asking you to do. You gotta you know, lift in in the morning and get runs in at night, and do extra sit ups and throw when no one's looking, and you know, practice practice, practice, because that's we're not gifted enough to just up. And yeah, you gotta know that's you know, going back to Peyton Eli's uncles, those guys are not by any way being stretched the most talented guys in the field, and they're not faster or stronger.

Some people would probably disagree. Yeah, I mean, but you know, but you get you get guys that are so gifted that sometimes don't work. I have, um, a couple that are just grinders. You know, they will outwork you, they will stay up till four o'clock and do the work, they'll run extra and then you have one that has tons of ability and likes to work. And if you look around in the history of anything, if you have people that are just gifted and work, those are the

ones that the people talk about. This show is called now What um and it really struck me as sort of the now what moments in our lives that really do define how we respond to these these issues that really defines how we go forward in the world. And I feel I've had now what moments probably my whole life. My most recent one, I was in the hospital for a month I broke my femur. And I'm always fascinated

with people's now what moments because we have multiples. It's either it's a positive opportunity or or a difficult one, or a tragedy or something that we have to face. What would you say that you're biggest now what moment has been in your life? For me, probably it was, you know, as I mentioned, grew up in a very athletic oriented family and playing football was very important to me. And then go to go off to college to play football, Little Miss, and then um, kind of before it even starts.

I mean literally, um, week two or three of the of the first season, doctors come in and say something, we don't see something right here your hands or numb. Something's up. We need to go sending to the Mayo clinic and go pop round season doctors. And you find out surely thereafter that I have like a little stenosis in my spinal cord. And says, you know, football is no longer. So you're eighteen, you're going after college, college scholarship.

He played for All Miss b a wide receiver. Have fun kind of fu fail your dreams going back to where your parents played school and then they say, bam, it's over. And so that was probably that was a tough, a tough moment for for an eighteen year old, even even for me. He was kind of happy, go lucky. What is what is this to? Basically, most people have a spinal cord and you have a spinal column which kind of you know, kind of protects it, so you just kind of and they have like the space around it.

And mine was like I think gets happened. It kind of bangs up against the wall and it can cause problems. So you're not You're fine. You can live your whole life. People can go on and play and never know. But football is probably the one football water, skiing, car rex, those kind of things or things they say, probably not a good idea. And so, um, did you have surgery

with our surgery? Yeah, I had to have surgery the kind of make a little more room around it, give you a little protection, and then had um a fusion. Um a couple of years later was the how was the recovery process and the physical therapy for well, I had a Yeah, it was a pain because I had a blood clot and so I woke up and like, um, wasn't the same Like as a matter of fact, I had they woke up and I was like paralyzed and they had to go back in and they fixed some things.

And it's over my head as far as medical jargon, but um, you know I had to learn how to walk again. My right leg lost its strength and my left leg lost its feeling. And so you were like and you felt like you were, you know, walking with two different people's limbs right there. And so but you're young and youthful, and I want to get back to normal and and did my physical therapy and got back and it's always I'll never be the athlete that I was, But I also can you know I can do just

about everything I want to do as well. What do you tell what would you tell some on I mean, when I was in the hospital, the only thing I could do was learned how to walk, and I asked to get physical therapy twice a day. And the learning how to walk with such a strange, terrifying feeling. What is what would your advice to somebody who's got to go through something like that to keep yourself strong emotionally

and mentally well. I think the the little steps for like even like, hey, okay, you know now I'm walking without holding onto the side of the rails. That's progress, you know. I think you've gotta baby steps are good steps. And um, I just wanted to get back to normal. That was my goal, Like, look, I just want to get back where I can do the daily things that everyone else can do. And so I was. I didn't. I really don't look back and kind of feel sorry

for myself. I'm really like the task at hand and say I'm gonna go get this. I'm hungry I'm motivated and I'll do whatever it takes to get there. And that's that was kind of my kind of my attitude. You always have a positive way to to look at a situation, And do you think that's innate? Do you think that it's just innate? And who you are? You know?

I do, and I'm I'm probably I'm not good at some things that required Like I have a couple of buddies who are always can look at the other way, and I gotta get them around me sometimes, like when you're looking at a business deal, I'm like, oh, this is great. I like this, this is good okay, And I just kind of helped the person who's pitching it, like, man,

you've really done a nice job. And then I get my guy and he's like, well, they didn't look at this, they didn't look at that, you know, And I just I'm kind of a rosy grass is green right where

I am. I don't particularly enjoy the company of real serious people, and they probably think I'm, you know, just rose colored glasses, and you know, well yeah, but I think also to see the way that you've supported your brothers, it's really such a beautiful thing to be able to say, I celebrate your successes and I'm right here with you, and I love you and the sports so much that I can actually enjoy this too. I think, um, truly being happy for people that are having success is a

is a great quality. And and I've been warned of that before. In the business world. You'll say, someone will say, you've got to be careful. Some people that don't want anyone else to succeed, they get mad when other people do well. That's that's a bad quality. And I don't know if that's an eight or that's fixed or taught. Uh, you know, can be healed. But when someone does something great, Uh man, I'm I'm proud of them. I don't I think that that's a healthy way. I think it's hard

for people. I mean, I think we regret. It's a hard thing. How do you not have regret? You know? Some people talk about I was telling Ellen the other night, we have two kids playing high school football. It's but it's great that my parents were lucky enough to have Peyton and I were playing high school football together. They were going to the games and their friends are there, and this is a fantastic time of our life. I mean, it is really neat. I mean just high school sports

are so pure and clean. No one really talks bad about you if you don't do well, and it's just it's pure and fun. And I talked to people that have their kids have graduated and moved on, and they're going, oh my god, I miss it so much. And I said, as much as I love it, I don't think I'm ever gonna I'm gonna have loved it, but I don't think I will be looking back and going that was the best time. Now this is not. I look forward to all the new next chapters and next steps. I don't.

I mean, I loved, you know, when they were playing a little league, but I don't miss them playing a little league anymore. I look forward to seeing how they grow up and see how it turns out. I don't. I kind of look forward to tomorrow every day. Are you excited for Arch to play? Are you scared about

I'm really excited. You know, he loves it so much that it makes it It makes it easy, and he works hard and he's um, you know, who knows how it all works out, but he's know, he's chasing a dream and uh and a passion that he's you know, he's excited about and that's all you want. I mean, Ellen's nervous, isn't you know? You can see these how many people are going to the games, and see how big and fast everybody is. He's trying to kill him. She's a nervous freck and she don't even knows what

he's getting into. But you know, I think you'd feel. I think you'd feel every impact. I think you just feel every everything. My mother has been to more football games than any woman in the world, and big, big games that she's so calm and cool. I don't know how she does it. How did you end up in the business world? Like what was that trajectory like for you? You know that was kind of a pivot also when when football ended and you're like, Okay, now I gotta

figure out what I want to do. And I always liked interacting with people. And I was told as a young kid, like you're gonna go you're in sales. You've gotta be a sales I don't know what they help man, you know you're twelve, Oh, you're gonna be a salesman. Like whatever that means. Because we're all we're all sales in in some fashion sales people. But um, I was really lucky. Um. Out of college, I went to work for this uh um, and I want to do something that I didn't It was not tied to my name

or tied to sports. I kind of wanted to go off and do my little deal. And there was a in the in the energy business, in the oil service business. There was a family there that was hiring people. And I said, I don't know anything about this, and they took a shot on me, and it was it was great. I worked there, I learned I didn't know anything. And then three years later, another investment banking firm said, you know, we're looking for some young institutional salesman. It was this

cool thing. And I had a little history and then in energy business and they were energy related and I didn't have a great financial background, but I was good at it. I was good at talking to people. I was good at get people on the phone and get people to trust me, and and wound up being really good at at you know, on Wall Street. Um, you know,

got lucky on some timing of things. Continue to learn and continue to meet new incredible people that are so intelligent and driven that uh, and surround ourselves with smart people and it's maybe look good. What are you most proud of? Do you think? I think I'm proud of the fact that if someone called and said, hey, I got a call from Coop remaining about doing this deal? Do you know him? Should I look at it? Is he a good guy? I think you I get pretty

good grades. I know you would. Um. Do you think that there's people that there are misconceptions that people have of your family? Probably? I think they probably think we're just there's never a cross word or just everybody's just singing, you know in harmony, as we have perfect table manners and you know, go to bed at ten thirty at night. And I don't think that's true. I mean, I don't

know if they do or not. I think we've done a pretty good job of letting people know that we have a ton of flaws, and we're wrong a lot, and we're far from perfect. But I think we try to do the right thing, and we're we um surround ourselves with smart people and good people, and and like to poke fund on ourselves. I'm sure you've experienced it more. But people will come up and say things and they don't. They don't mean it. I don't think they say really

dumb things and they're trying to be kind. I think, you know, somewhat kind. Like they'll say, you know whatever, a boy Peyton was terrible last night and in the Monday night game, and I'm like, oh, that's so thank you for okay, great, thank you for sharing that. I'm sorry you you know, like you don't say that, but they don't know, and so you just kind of have

to put on a happy face. And I did a speaking engagement yesterday and Michigan, and a woman came up to me at the end and she said, I was really not anticipating liking your talk, but I did very much. And I was like, well, thank you for sharing the up. Yeah. Really, what do they think they're gonna do? You're gonna go

there and juggle and just tell bad jokes. I mean, but it's like it's like every time I've been on Broadway, someone's come up to me and said, you know, I thought you were gonna suck, but you're you're good like people. I'm glad the bar is so low that I can just succeed. You know. I do have one thing I want to do in my life that I'm scared to do, and I'm kind of you're you're bringing it out of me Brook And I would love to try to do a stand up comedy bit. I don't know where you

do it? Do it local and do you know do five ten fifteen shows. I love listening to Jerry Seinfeld talking two different comedians and they when things go terrible, like bombing this night, you know, and it's like a badge of hotter. You you gotta get booed or throw just absolute no hitters to to kind of get there. And I've always loved stand up comedians and watching them and and seeing different styles and see how they work. But I would one day when I'm bored, I think

I'm gonna just hit the room. Well I know, I mean, listen, you got Chris Huntie, so I mean, at least that's one guy who will be in the audience to be in the audience, and he definitely help you. I know he would do it. But I don't. They have sort of open mic nights and comedy comedy clubs. There's no reason.

I mean, I've been and I have a son who I tell I said, you know, when you think of things, just just put a little note card, just write them down, because I don't love rehearsing and like having the same thing, Like I'd love to do it, but i'd want to do it once and I want new material. I need to be better at. You know, when something pops up in my head, that's funny, right, being able to get it out in the right in the right way, because it's a tonal thing, and then it's a it's an

economy of words, you know what I mean. It's very interesting. I tried it once. I had to host something, and I am not good at it. I'm really not good at I can tell stories that are funny sort of on a talk show, or I can be funny and slip in things, but when it comes to just the stand up horrible. Chris tried it too and said he just wasn't very good at it, and so he would sell jokes to other comedians like he sold Jim Carrey. I think my young Jim Carrey like a fifty joke

in the eighties. I wonder what it's worth now. Yeah, I love um. One of my favorite things to do is to give a toast at a rehearsal dinner. And I particularly love it when I'm barely invited to that event, like I'm not you know, I'm a fringe. Last minute someone canceled on cooking them are up here, they came to the wedding, Go ahead and invite them. And then I get up and no one even knows who I am when I get up and just take over the room.

I was at a wedding one time in Memphis and we had no business being invited, and the toasts were not going well, and they were they were downright bad. And my dad was at the table and I said, Dad, I'm gonna I'm gonna make a toast and he's like, no, you're not, no, you know, I said Dad. And the toast kept on going and they were not good, and I said Dad, I'm gonna do it, and he goes, you don't have the balls to do it, and I went okay, and I just like I got Mike, please,

and I went on, do you ever get questions you hate? Like, what's the question? You? You just want to like punch somebody for asking you? Oh goodness, um oh, people ask me when when you know Eli and Peyton have a Monday night they do the Monday night football game and they have guests and they go, when are you going to be a guest on Monday Football? And I'm just not going to be And so I don't know why I might they think I'm getting like my feelings hurt

or rejected or something. I always say I'm the guests when it go to overtime, and that's so much thinking over time, waiting, Like it's like I'm waiting there in the studio, like please go to overtime to me be it. But you know, it's so fun, Like what a That's such a silly thing to ask you because it's it's not really I mean, the question would be do you have any desire to be on said show? But this sort of like when are you going to do it? It just sounds like it's like a needlingk. I don't

hate questions like that, right, definitely, No, it's fun. I mean, um, if I really want to be on it, I call either one of them saying hey, can I get on the show? Dear goodness? What the heck? Okay? All right, so quick fire. These are questions like even growing up or even now, but between you and your brothers, all right, I'm gonna say two things and then or I'm going to say one thing and then you tell me what The first thing it comes to your mind is who's

the messiest? We are so neat all of you anal over the top, anal retentive. My dad would made us lay out our clothes every night in lower school before we're gonna wear you know. As a matter of fact, I'll tell Peyton and I would get in a fight every now and then in middle school what have you? And uh, I would go into his room and mess up his room, like literally, take his chair and just put it down, take some papers and you know, place place him neatly but on the floor, take his you

know yeah, make up his unmake his bed. I mean it was like that was that was that was that was gonna say, must have been crazy. Did he retaliate? He would retaliate by doing the same thing to me. It was pretty It's pretty high level fighting, right, Okay, who is the biggest whiner? Peyton's a tough customer, you know, so now I you know, he just like he would like to. He likes to give you a hard time about your selection of things, like, hey, where we're going

dinner night, and that's how we're going here. And he get there and he'd be like, you know, so now I say, I don't know. I don't know wherever you want to go, so therefore no one can can complain. Eli is the least complaining person whining up. He's never had a Eli doesn't even know how to complain. I mean, he could go to a restaurant, I said, and order a steak and they bring him a flounder. He wouldn't even tell the waitress. He would just eat it and

never know, would ever know he didn't order it. It's amazing some people. Yeah, he's he's he's a contempt to give his life for me. Whose mom's favorite helies number one? And then I'd say Peyton and I are tied for the last. Why because he's so sweet and nice and thoughtful, and I just I sometimes out on those little qualities. But I'm always broke. But I will say I'm always like, if there's an event or a party, I'm number one request to make it fun. Can's down the most fun.

So's that's a trade I gotta take if I'm gonna be last, you know, loved, at least I'll be first when it's a good quality to have. Um, who is most likely to be late? Another thing? We are very neat and we were very punctual. We were early earlier. I think I know the answered to this one. But who's the best salesperson? Yeah? Yeah, Um, Payton is not bad. Eli is not a very good salesman. I don't think I think I could. You could take Peyton. You get

Peyton and a room together. We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna move some paper. Um okay, it's a family event and you're picking quarterback. Who gets picked first? And he gets the bench? Oh shoot, um, mom has great hands. Peyton Eili are just gonna play, you know, one on one and my dad and I are gonna over there and have an old fashioned and a cigar and just watch everybody run around. I can do some cheerleading with Chris.

I was a cheerleader for football and basketball. Is that Yes, We've never really talked about it, but it's a high school. I think that's a whole Another podcast. Another podcast that was the hilarious Cooper Manning and my husband getting into a lot of trouble together. So I think it's time we hang out again. If you want to hear more from him, check out The Manning Hour on Fox Sports. That's it for us today, Talk to you next week Now. What is produced by the wonderful Julia Weaver with help

from Darby Masters. Our executive producer is Christina Everett. The show is mixed by Bahid Fraser and Christian Bowman. A special thanks to nicky Etre and Will Pearson. If you liked this episode, please subscribe to the show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows.