Eli Manning: I'm finally ready to host 'Saturday Night Live'

Now that he has one more Super Bowl ring than his big brother Peyton, the time is finally right for Eli Manning to step out of his brother's comic shadow and host "Saturday Night Live," the younger Manning said Wednesday.

The star Giants quarterback said in a conference call that he turned down a chance to host the NBC show in 2008 after he won his first Super Bowl, and the year after Peyton hosted the show to rave reviews: The bar had been set too high, both on the "SNL" stage and on the field.

"One of the main reasons I did not do it was Peyton had done so well the previous year," Eli said Wednesday. “I said I do want to do the show at one point, I just want to do it after my next championship.”

Eli has been rehearsing all week for Saturday’s show, which also features Rihanna as the musical guest. He said his brother's advice was just to focus having fun.
“They main thing [Peyton] said is just enjoy the week,” Eli said. “The fun part is during the week.”

“SNL” Executive Producer Lorne Michaels said the show has pursued Eli for “a long time,” and that he expects the football star to shine.

“He’s both charming and radiates a certain kind of intelligence,” he said. “There's a sort of essential modesty to him, and that plays well with what we do.”

Peyton, by the way, won’t attend Saturday’s performance because of a prior commitment, the Daily News reported.