Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were great rivals. And yet there is also a friendship between the two NFL legends

There have been and still are many great rivalries in the NFL. One of the biggest and probably the biggest rivalry between two quarterbacks was probably the one between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the latter entered the stage and soon stole the show from the then star quarterback Manning. The Indianapolis Colts playmaker was still a young player himself.

Brady’s first career start for the New England Patriots was in week 3 of the 2001 season – against Manning and the Colts, of all teams.

That was because “Indy” was still in the AFC Eeast that season. Later on, the two quarterback icons would meet more often anyway, as both teams were regularly in the playoffs due to their signal callers.

In the end, Manning and Brady would meet 17 times. The “GOAT” won eleven times, while Manning, who was around one and a half years older, prevailed six times.

Together, the two NFL legends have nine Super Bowl wins and eight MVP awards.

Brady and Manning trained together

As is usual for great rivals, Manning and Brady mainly fought each other on the field. But Manning has now revealed that the two once even trained together and saw themselves less as rivals.

As part of Brady’s farewell to the Patriots, Manning was invited to Foxborough as a surprise guest at Gillette Stadium and gave an emotional speech.

“I said, ‘Tom, let’s get together, stay under the radar and don’t tell anyone we’re seeing each other.’ Tom then came flying in on Mr. Kraft’s plane,” Manning said. “Then we lifted some weights together and threw passes with high school receivers that we had taken cell phones from.”

Manning even acknowledged their friendship with each other.

“We told them, ‘If you tell anybody that Tom Brady and I coach together and we’re friends, we’ll kill you.'”

Brady and Manning: friendship instead of rivalry

Brady and Manning – as well as the 100 or so invited guests in Boston – had a fun time at the speech.

Brady is No. 1 in passing touchdowns (649), while Manning ranks third (539). Brady is also first in passing yards (89,214), while Manning is third (71,940).

It’s indisputable: Both have shaped an era as quarterbacks. What is now more than controversial, however, is the great rivalry between them. Instead, it seems to be a friendship between the two