Peyton Manning sends "cold text" to Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell ahead of Rams playoffs game

It’s not every day Kevin O'Connell receives a text from Peyton Manning. Moreover, it’s certainly not every day that the text is as disarmingly humorous as the one Vikings head coach got.

Ahead of the Rams’ wild-card game, the two-time Super Bowl champion, Peyton Manning reached out to the Vikings' head coach. During Friday's episode of "This Is Football," the former QB shared the amusing backstory.

"Kevin O'Connell, who I don't really know personally ... but I have a lot of respect for the way you coach," Manning began.

Manning’s reason for texting had less to do with compliments and more with a playful warning.

So, why did he send the text? It turns out that Peyton’s brother Eli Manning, who works on game analysis with him, was scheduled to chat with O’Connell as part of their usual playoff routine. Therefore, Peyton decided to give O’Connell a playful heads-up.

"I kind of sent Kevin O'Connell a cold text. I just said, "I apologize. You're going to have to talk to Eli on Saturday. It's 10 minutes. You'll never get back," Manning said.

But, in typical Peyton fashion, he couldn’t resist poking fun at himself. Peyton said that he accidentally wrote “20 minutes” instead and joked that he made it sound worse than it was.

That said, Manning described the Vikings head coach as a “dynamic play-caller” and someone who stands back and makes it about the players and has "no ego."

Kevin O'Connell’s leadership led the Minnesota Vikings to resurgence

When Kevin O’Connell took over as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach, expectations were high. However, few could have predicted the transformation he would lead.

In just three seasons, O’Connell helped the team to a 34-17 record. It includes two standout seasons with 13 and 14 wins. While only one division title is in the record books so far, the team amid a challenging rebuild has become a powerhouse.

As Peyton Manning rightly pointed out in "This is Football," the player-first approach has been a cornerstone of O’Connell’s success in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the Rams-Vikings playoff game originally scheduled at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has been relocated to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, due to devastating wildfires.