‘Chad Powers’ Episode 3 Features A Hilarious Eli Manning Cameo: “Who The F*** Is That Guy?”

The new South Georgia Catfish quarterback is about to impress the man, the myth, the inspiration behind Hulu‘s new comedy, Chad Powers, himself: two-time Super Bowl winning QB Eli Manning.

That’s right, folks! Manning not only inspired the football comedy, which stars Glen Powell as Russ Holiday, a washed up QB who gets a second shot at his college football dreams when he disguises himself as Chad Powers and makes a new team. The NFL star also serves as an executive producer on the show and makes a hilarious cameo in Episode 3, “3RD QUARTER.”

As Hulu’s official Episode 3 synopsis explains, “It’s the second half of the season opener against Ole Miss and the Catfish are losing. Stuck on the sidelines together, Chad (Powell) and Ricky (Perry Mattfeld) team up and try to save the day.”

So what role does Manning play on the field? And does he on the show as himself or play a character specific to Chad Powers? We’ve got answers!

With the Catfish behind, Ricky talks up Chad and begs her dad, Coach Hudson (Steve Zahn), to bench the starting QB Gerry (Colton Ryan) and put their odd, albeit uber talented backup QB in to make some game-winning plays. Coach Hudson initially shuts down her idea and banishes her to the locker room for the remainder of the game. But when Gerry gets injured, Coach has no choice but to put Chad in, and wouldn’t you know it? Our boy pulls off a miracle on that field!

After Chad boldly switches up the plays on the field and leads the Catfish comeback, the camera cuts to people around the stadium reacting, including Peyton Manning, who’s throwing a fit on the sidelines as the coach of his real-life alma mater, Ole Miss.

“Who the FUCK is that guy?!” Manning’s character shouts in defeat. His appearance is mere seconds long, but it’s a real treat — especially for those who know how “concerned” the NFL star was about Powell’s football skills after watching him toss the ball around in Top Gun: Maverick.

A Decider-exclusive clip shows Powell and Manning chatting with Linsey Davis on ABC News Live Prime’s The Sitdown about bringing Chad Powers to screen. In it, Manning says, “I thought he got better. We all saw him in Top Gun throwing, not his best performance I thought on the football. I was a little concerned when I saw that. I’m like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna have to spend so much money on football that this thing’s never gonna be successful.’”

During the interview, Powell also noted that the topic of his football skills “always” came up when he and Manning were pitching the show. “The pitch always took a detour of us just giving each other shit about my throwing style,” the Chad Powers star explained. “[Eli’s] like, ‘Hey, you guys are gonna have to put in some more money for football training.’”

In the end, Powell said it was “fun” to have Eli and his brother Peyton around to give “super specific” advice while he was training. And the NFL star admitted the Powell “nailed” the athletic skills needed to pull off Chad Powers.

With three episodes left in Chad Powers Season 1, we can’t wait to see what other skills Powell, er— Holliday, er— POWERS has in store for us on the field.

New episodes of Chad Powers premiere Tuesdays on Hulu.