Photo: Stampede Blue

Maybe in some bizarre, parallel universe Archie Manning is really Joe Jackson. This probably means Peyton and Eli are Michael and Janet. That’s no disrespect to Eli, but the analogy seemed like such a great comparison at first that I really did not have the heart to turn back. This fall, DirecTV looks to add a new cop drama to my already impressive lineup of Law & Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, NCIS and First 48 with the quirky and still somewhat mysterious Football Cops starring the two Super Bowl winning quarterbacks.

There were always two athletes I knew would be successful post-retirement due to their personalities/endorsement power. Shaq was one and Peyton (“Mike Tahoe”) was the other. It seems as if little bro Eli (“C.J. Hunter”) plans on following in the same steps. And coming from a fan of a better team in the NFC East, how could you blame him? To be quite honest, I’m not even sure what to make of the series DirecTV is attempting to sell me. I initially figured it was joke, but after coming across the actual website, all systems point towards legitimacy.

At times, the trailer is so corny that it’s funny. The two signal calling brothers are set star as police officers who halt crime with bullet passes and bombs occasionally setting people on fire; exactly what any “thirsty-for-anything-related-to-football” fan would want from a show of this ilk. I’ll watch, even if it’s just to say I did. But in the names and respect of the late Walter Payton and Gene Upshaw, some higher power needs to grant us the gift of pigskin on Sundays again. Football Cops will be fine if it’s a compliment to the actual game. If it’s all there is, however, we as red-blooded American football fans will make the Vancouver riot mirror an after school fight. And I say that with the intentions of going there.

Who knows though, maybe Peyton and Eli will give Franklin & Bash a run for their money.