He's a pro on the football field, but can Eli Manning be equally successful on a sound stage?
The New York Giants quarterback, 31, will host Saturday Night Live for the first time May 5, and Eli is ready for the challenge. "I'll let the writers and cast members do their job and create something funny," he told Us Weekly at the Ermenegildo Zegna NY Passion for Silk event in NYC Wednesday. "I just kind of went in open-minded. I don't mind making fun of myself. I don't mind doing different characters and doing something obviously I've never done before."
(Eli's Denver Broncos quarterback brother, Peyton Manning, hosted the NBC show in 2007.)
Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli has yet to meet the show's musical guest, Rihanna, 24, but said "there is a possibility" they will "do something together" in a sketch. "There are some things that have been written with her possibly in it," he told Us. "We just gotta see if she'll go for it or not."
Eli — whose wife Abby McGrew gave birth in April 2011 — also shared some of his daughter Ava's latest milestones. "She went from crawling to walking to running in a very quick amount of time. She's saying some words and pointing at things and laughing a lot, so that makes it a lot of fun."