It’s long-known that Peyton Manning used Tiger Woods’ and Phil Mickelson’s names during pre-snap calls when he was quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.
“All those years in Indy, we had different words for the snap count. Snap it on 1, or on 2. And for so many years, Tiger was on 1 and Phil was on 2,” Manning said at the 2018 Memorial Tournament, but had told that story a few years prior. “Tiger always liked that. He could hear it, and he was like, ‘I heard Tiger. Tiger still on 1?’ I go, ‘Yeah.’ I think he liked the fact that Phil was on 2 a lot as well.”
Manning’s reasoning was Woods was often No. 1 in the world with Mickelson trailing him.
“People couldn’t figure it out. Nobody knew what we were saying,” Manning also said in ‘18. “Because a lot of teams use ‘R’ and ‘L’ words, meaning a play to the right or a play to the left. So, I think they always thought it meant something else, so we’d say it a lot. ‘Tiger, Tiger.’ ‘Phil, Phil.’ They could never figure it out.”
Mickelson joined Peyton Manning and his brother, Eli, on Monday for the “ManningCast” during “Monday Night Football.”
As the trio discussed the origin of Peyton’s “Omaha” pre-snap call, Peyton brought up the Tiger-Phil count.
“We had a snap count called Tiger. And a snap count called Phil. It’s really irrelevant which one was on one and which one was on two – you were in the Colts offense. How does that make you feel?”
Of course, Mickelson was well aware that he was on 2. How did the make him feel?
“Like a Hall of Fame player,” Mickelson said, before adding a needle of his own. “Yeah, it was the year you lost the Super Bowl and finished as second as well. So I remember that year well – I was pulling for you to win and …”
In addition to talking football, Mickelson took time to roast Eli’s “cute little swing.”
Phil Mickelson analyzes Eli's golf swing 🥶
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) November 16, 2021
"I think it's a cute little swing." pic.twitter.com/CtwvllOlgv