The term rivalry is often associated with some level of animosity, but when it comes to Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, that most certainly isn’t the case. This rivalry, if you want to call it that, is built entirely upon respect, and that’s what makes it so fun to watch.
Both Brady and Manning, they understand the position they’re in; they understand their position in football history. And as they walk onto the field for what will be the 17th matchup of their career, and most likely their last, they’ll both be looking to put on a show.
And while Brady has overtaken Manning in the race towards greatest-of-all-item status, the individual matchup is much tighter. In fact, since 2005, when Brady beat Manning in the playoffs to move to 6-0 in their series, Manning has gone 5-5 in their next 10 matchups, including two victories in the AFC Championship.
If Manning were to help lead the Broncos to a victory on Sunday, it would be the third straight postseason victory for No. 18 in the Brady-Manning series, all three of which have placed Manning in the Super Bowl two weeks later.
Here’s what Peyton Manning had to say of his unique relationship with Tom Brady during his discussion with the media on Wednesday:
On playing Brady and the Patriots so often in his career:
“They’re there for a reason. They’re an excellent football team. They’re playing in their 10th AFC Championship for a reason. They’ve had excellent continuity from [Head] Coach [Bill] Belichick to [QB] Tom Brady. There’s a reason their head coach and quarterback have been there for as long as they have because they’ve both been outstanding at their respective jobs. You have to give a lot of credit. When the season schedule comes out and you know you’re going to play against them in the regular season, every time after that final second ticks off, you have good feelings you probably will see them again if you do your job and get to the playoffs. That’s been the case certainly a number of times for me.”
On the historical significance of their 17th matchup:
“Oh, I don’t know. I know that it’s been, I guess, three different teams. I’ve always kind of given the boring answer, ‘Hey, it’s the Colts versus the Patriots and now it’s the Broncos versus the Patriots.’ All I can say about Tom Brady is he plays the position the way it’s supposed to be played. He’s extremely talented. He’s a very hard worker, very competitive guy and he just plays the position the right way. When you do that, there’s a reason you play for a long time and play well for a long time. There have been a lot of different players that have played in 16 of those games but as the quarterback, it’s always been a great honor and privilege to have competed against him that many times over the course of the past 16, 17 years he and I have been in the league together.”
On if there’s a friendship between he and Brady:
“Tom and I have obviously played against each other over the years and have had a chance to spend some time, not a great deal, but sometime in the offseason at the Pro Bowl or some type of event that brought us together. Like I said, I’ve just got great respect for the way he plays the position. He takes care of himself physically and always answers the bell every single season and every single week. There’s definitely high respect from me and I appreciate some of the things he’s said about me as well.”
On if Brady reached out to him at all this season:
“Tom has always been in support of me, and I always try to be the same for him.”
On the comparisons of the Manning-Brady rivalry to Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry:
“That’s probably an uncomfortable comparison for me to comment on. Obviously, I grew up a big Larry Bird-Magic Johnson fan. I had some of those old posters of Larry and Magic in their very short shorts (laughing). I have felt very fortunate to play 18 years like I have, and I know how hard I’ve worked to play this long. When I look across at the New England Patriots and see Tom Brady is their quarterback, I just know how hard he’s worked, as well. To play as well as he has over the course of his career with the success that he has had and the team’s success, I have a lot of respect for him. He’s earned that respect. He and Bill Belichick have earned all the respect and all of the accolades that they get.”
On having to sit out during the last Broncos-Patriots matchup:
“I was talking to [OLB] DeMarcus [Ware] today and neither of us played in that game. We were both in the equipment room watching the game. DeMarcus is a big time second-guesser (laughing). ‘Wrap up, [OLB] Vonn [Miller]. Wrap up, [DE] Malik [Jackson].’ I really enjoyed his commentary during the game. He and I were smiling before the team meeting that it would be nice to be out onto the actual playing field this time around as opposed to being in an equipment room where you are watching it on TV on mute so you don’t have to hear all of the analysis. The hot dogs aren’t bad in there, I’ll say that, but I’d much prefer to be on the playing field. I know he does, as well. I know a lot of guys like [S] T.J. [Ward] and [NT] Sylvester [Williams] were injured in that game early so I think everybody is excited to be out there on the playing field come Sunday, playing in this game.”
