Like most college football programs, Penn State Nittany Lions organizes several annual tryouts that give unrecruited players an opportunity to earn a spot on the team. Feeling a bit bored in his retirement, two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning decided to take part in the tryouts and see whether he could make the cut.
Manning used heavy makeup, a fake mustache, and a wig to create a new persona called Chad Powers. With Penn’s head coach James Franklin in on the joke, the former New York Giants QB walked into the tryout facility and let Chad Powers lose.
He raised quite a few eyebrows thanks to his unusual background, which included being home-schooled and coached by his mom, and a bit of a strange demeanor.
“Chad’s gonna run. Chad run fast. Fast Chad,” Manning aka Powers started shouting before running a 40-yard dash. “This flow might slow me down, too. It’s good, though.”
Powers ended up running just 5.49, which was far from impressive, but that didn’t matter once he got the ball in his hands. He started slinging the ball all across the field, impressing the coaching staff and his fellow walk-ons.
Unfortunately for Powers, his tryout didn’t end up the way he hoped. Franklin singled him out in front of everybody, telling him he didn’t make the team for two reasons. One was being too slow, and the other one was the fact he was ineligible. Manning then unveiled himself to the rest of the walk-ons and coaching staff, causing everyone’s jaw to drop.
You can check out the amazing clip of Chad Powers experience below.
