The retired NFL star tells PEOPLE he enjoyed sporting some facial hair for the new commercial, since he’s "so jealous and envious of people with mustaches"
Eli Manning, King’s Hawaiian new Football Season-ing
Eli Manning in new King’s Hawaiian campaign.
Eli Manning stars in a new campaign for King’s Hawaiian
The retired NFL star and the dinner roll brand have teamed up on Football Season-ing, a blend to add flavor to sliders, dips and pasta salads
The new commercial sees Manning encouraging his book club celebrating “Slider Sunday”
Eli Manning aims to make game day more flavorful with a new campaign for King’s Hawaiian.
The retired NFL star and the dinner roll brand have teamed up on Football Season-ing, an aptly named blend to liven up sliders, dips, pasta salads and other Game Day staples.
Food Network star Adam Tabura created the new product, which includes white Hawaiian sea salt, Maui red sea salt, chiles, garlic and onion.
Manning, 44, stars in a new commercial for the brand, which sees the New York Giants legend — clad in an argyle sweater vest and tie — urging his book club to ditch their literary discussion in favor of celebrating “Slider Sunday.”
“Sundays are about traditions, and it's about family and friends,” Manning tells PEOPLE. “And when you bring family, friends and football together, you need great food.”
Manning says the most fun part of filming the funny video was getting to sport some facial hair.
“I think any opportunity to wear a mustache,” he says. “I prefer a mustache in any possibility. I can't grow one for real, so always so jealous and envious of people with mustaches.”
“I saw it as an option, so I said, ‘I'm going to run with this,’” he adds. “There was a man-bun involved for a little bit, but then I don't think it made the final cut, so that was exciting for a while.”
Manning says he appreciates that dinner rolls can be used “in so many ways.”
Eli Manning Kicks Off Football Season With Game Day Spread Staple, King's Hawaiian, At Its Tailgate Tour In Chicago at Barstool Sports Chicago on August 27, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
Eli Manning Kicks Off Football Season With Game Day Spread Staple, King's Hawaiian, At Its Tailgate Tour In Chicago at Barstool Sports Chicago on August 27, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
“I have four kids, so I got to have a lot of variety,” says Manning, who shares Ava, 14, Lucy, 12, Caroline, 10, and Charlie, 7, with his wife, Abby McGrew.
“They all have their different wants. We have some that just like turkey, plain,” he says. “We have some that like the grilled cheese with bacon on it. My youngest son's the pickiest. He just likes the King's Hawaiian sweet rolls, like ‘I don't need anything, any butter.’”
Weekdays “can be a lot of chaos,” since his children are enrolled in various sports, which makes for staggered dinner times, he says.
Eli Manning Kicks Off Football Season With Game Day Spread Staple, King's Hawaiian, At Its Tailgate Tour In Chicago at Barstool Sports Chicago on August 27, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
Eli Manning Kicks Off Football Season With Game Day Spread Staple, King's Hawaiian, At Its Tailgate Tour In Chicago at Barstool Sports Chicago on August 27, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
However, he still values Sunday family dinners, a tradition he and his retired quarterback brother, Peyton Manning, enjoyed often growing up.
“My dad liked to have that family dinner where we would gather,” he recalls. “And I think sometimes during the summers or during crazy schedules, it probably didn't happen as much as I remember, but those Sunday dinners where you come in, gather, talk about the upcoming week, just everything that's been going on.”
“My oldest brother, Cooper, was always the storyteller,” he adds. “We never knew if the stories were true or not. I think most of the time we finally realized he was making up these stories when you asked him later on like, ‘Hey, tell that story about this,’ when he couldn't remember the details and the story changed. But just more just sitting together as a family and having fun, telling stories, were always some special memories for me.”