ESPNU once had an advertising campaign that centered on the slogan “Never Graduate”. Evidently, former SEC standouts Charles Barkley (Auburn basketball) and Peyton Manning (Tennessee football) took that message to heart, as the pair exchanged light-hearted barbs with one another on the Monday Night Football Megacast between the New Orleans Saints and the Las Vegas Raiders.
The broadcasting duo of Kirk Herbstreit and Rece Davis facilitated the fun as Herbstreit asked Barkley his height and weight as a senior in high school.
Barkley, who is affectionately known by the nickname, “The Round Mound of Rebound”, due to his size, quickly answered, “I was 6’5, 225 (lbs)”.
Due to the successful transition of basketball players from the hardwood to the gridiron, Herbstreit suggested that Barkley could have played Tight End. After Barkley said that he never played with a quarterback good enough to make him a star, Davis interrupted to ask if Manning would have been a good enough quarterback for Barkley.
“I don’t know,” Barkley responds. “He (Manning) went to Tennessee because he did not have the grades to get into Auburn, but me and Bo Jackson, we could have gotten him into Auburn.”
The quick-witted Manning, an Academic All-American in high school, sent a good-natured insult back to Barkley.
“I wanted to go to Auburn, but I just couldn’t get in academically,” Manning joked. “A man has got to make a decision. Charles, just to follow up, what is your playing weight now?”
The SEC Network tweeted the clip and it had nearly 80,000 views by Tuesday morning.
Barkley and Manning are no strangers to showing off their comedic sides. Barkley often acts as comic relief as an analyst on TNT’s Inside the NBA, while Manning’s Saturday Night Live United Way sketch has garnered over 3.7 million views on YouTube.
