Modern Family's Rico Rodriguez Wanted More Time With Manny's Football Storyline
By Emily Bell
As "Modern Family" approached the end of its television tenure, Rico Rodriguez spoke with "The Real" about his time on the show. Answering a question about which storyline he would've liked to see revised, he brought up Manny's time as a football player. "I love sports so much, so I was kind of upset when Manny stopped playing football," he said, recalling that the story was phased out rather suddenly and that he missed the fun of it once it ended. Rodriguez continued, "It was so much fun to be able to put on the whole uniform and go out in the sun and be like, 'I'm ready to play football.'"
Sadly for Rodriguez, Manny's football dreams turned out to be a footnote in the grand scheme of "Modern Family." That meant he didn't get to spend too long blending his profession with his personal love of sports, but at least the series paved the way for him to get a sweet piece of football memorabilia. In 2019, he recalled to E! News that when longtime NFL mainstay Peyton Manning guest-starred on the show, he brought a gift with him. "Right when he was about to finish filming, he gave Ed [O'Neill], Sofia [Vergara], and I a signed football. Me being a huge sports fan, I was freaking out," he shared.
Rico Rodriguez's Manny Delgado never became a football star. Still, a Peyton Manning-autographed football is a nice consolation prize for the actor who played Manny.
