Charles Barkley Will Join Peyton and Eli Manning on 'Monday Night Football' Debut

Tonight marks the first Monday Night Football broadcast of the season for ESPN. It also marks the debut of the much-anticipated ManningCast that will air on ESPN2.

So far, all we really know is that Peyton and Eli Manning will be on ESPN2 shooting the bull while the No. 1 team of Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick star on the main broadcast. It will only be the Manning brothers for most of the game, but they will be joined by various guests. We've not a clue what kind of guests these might be or how they'll relate to the game that the brothers will be commentating about, if at all.

On the eve of the inaugural broadcast the Manning production company, Omaha Productions, tweeted out who the first guest will be SNL-style. It is none other than Charles Barkley.

Barkley is no stranger to football as an analyst, having appeared on the occasional pregame show to talk Auburn in the past. But this will be unlike anything Barkley has ever done. It's closer to Inside The NBA commentating on an actual basketball game than it is a real football broadcast.

Which means he'll be perfect. He and Peyton were on the golf course together in 2020 for an iteration of The Match, so they'll have some camaraderie. It should be fun. The grand experiment will embark upon its maiden journey for the Worldwide Leader tonight.