Tom Brady will be a guest of honour during Peyton Manning’s enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Manning made the announcement that the Super Bowl LV winner will join his former teammates and coaches during the live broadcast of the preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
Manning also added, jokingly, that he was not sure about the reception Brady would get because of the rivalry between their former teams. He said that he didn’t know if his former Colts teammates would be able to welcome Brady amongst them, but that it meant a lot that Brady was taking the time to be there.
Fierce Rivals
During his time with the New England Patriots, Brady’s fiercest rival was Peyton Manning. Manning’s Colts and Broncos teams always upped the ante when playing against the Patriots and during his spell with the Colts (1998-2011) and Broncos (2012-15), no team inspired Manning to give his best more than Brady’s Patriots.
Manning’s and Brady’s teams met a total of seventeen times. Brady was more successful of the two and won eleven of his games against Manning.
However, when it came to the playoffs, Manning was the one with the bragging rights. The former Colts and Broncos quarterback won three of the five playoff games he played against Brady.
High-Stakes Games and Great Mutual Respect
What made the rivalry between Brady and Manning so special was how often they faced each other despite playing in different divisions. Moreover, most Manning-Brady games came with much riding on their outcomes, so whenever these two NFL greats met each other the stakes were very high.
Tom Brady has said on multiple occasions that despite their rivalry he respected Manning and thought a lot of him. When the former Colts and Broncos quarterback was voted into the Hall of Fame, Brady admitted that he had admired Manning not just as a player but also as a leader of men.
Brady added that he always looked up to Manning because he was a little older and was a model professional. Moreover, because Manning’s teams were always playing at a high level, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star knew that whenever he played against a team led by Manning, he would go against the best team in the league. So, for Brady, it wasn’t surprising that Peyton was in the first-ballot for the Hall of Fame this year.
