On September 30, 2025, the first two episodes of the new comedy series “Chad Powers” were released on Hulu. The show will have a total of six episodes and will release one every Tuesday.
“Chad Powers” is 100% fiction, but the premise is based on a real sketch. In 2022, former NFL quarterback Eli Manning disguised himself in prosthetics, went by the name Chad Powers, and tried out for Penn State’s walk-on quarterback position. The entire process was filmed and put on his show “Eli’s Places” and can be found on ESPN+. Manning loved the idea so much that he and his brother, Peyton, decided to turn it into a comedy.
The plot is about a popular NFL quarterback, Russ Holliday, played by Glen Powell. His career is going great until he misses a touchdown and punches a child with cancer out of frustration. His career is essentially over because of this, and his character becomes very easy to hate. Though 8 years later, Holliday still hasn’t given up, and he has the bright idea to try out for the South Georgia Catfish quarterback walk-ons.
Obviously, he has to disguise himself because the whole world hates him, so he steals prosthetics from his dad’s work and goes by the name Chad Powers. The show is about him getting to fulfill his dreams of playing as a quarterback, despite ruining his life. It combines aspects of the comedy movies “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Ted Lasso.”
Omaha Productions and NFL Films produce the show, and the top executive producers are naturally Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, and Glen Powell. Powell even helped write the series. While the producers agreed it was a comedy, they also wanted the football aspect to be as accurate as possible.
“It is a rowdy, fun, edgy time,” Powell said. “This is not Ted Lasso. This is way edgier and more truthful to the sport.”
The filming process wasn’t as funny as the show, though. Powell spent a lot of time perfecting his throw and getting into the mindset as if he were a real quarterback. It wasn’t easy to mess around when two of the arguably best former NFL quarterbacks were coaching him.
“A lot of self-esteem issues after that,” Powell said in his interview.
Fortunately, the Manning brothers whipped Powell into shape; he’s received a lot of praise for his acting during the football games.
“Eli said he was nervous about me playing quarterback in this, because my form in “Top Gun: Maverick” was so bad,” Powell said. “And I told him he’s never played football covered in coconut oil.”
I don’t think any Glen Powell fan who has seen the football scene in “Top Gun: Maverick” cared about his form. The only thing worth caring about is who has the best abs.
It helps that Powell is a natural comedian himself. As of October 19, Powell’s show is rated a 7.4/10 on IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes, being typical with its criticism, rates it a 57%. Stuart Heritage, a writer from “The Guardian”, titles his article with words like “magnetic” and “magical.”
“What we’re left with is about as far from ‘Ted Lasso’ as you can get,” Heritage said. “It’s a mutant redemption story with a satisfyingly chewy moral core: can you truly be redeemed if it involves lying to every single person on the planet?”
Daniel Feinberg from The Hollywood Reporter turns a complete 180 degrees.
“I don’t like “Chad Powers” very much at all,” Feinberg said. “Both Russ and Chad are inconsistently written, but Powell is fully committed to all of their inconsistencies…the show is simply surface-deep…”
“Chad Powers” includes many different aspects, from football to romance to rebuilding yourself (no, literally). It makes sense if this show doesn’t become the “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” of this generation, but it’s a light, heartfelt watch. Whether you’re a die-hard football fan or new to the sport, this is a fun winter binge.
