Tom Brady–Peyton Manning rivalry
The Tom Brady–Peyton Manning rivalry was a series of games that took place between 2001 and 2015 involving two quarterbacks in the National Football League (NFL): Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.[1][2][3] It is considered by many to be the greatest individual NFL rivalry of all time, and has been compared to other legendary sports rivalries, such as Magic-Bird in basketball, Ali-Frazier in boxing, and Messi-Ronaldo in association football.
Both quarterbacks are considered to be among the greatest in NFL history. Brady won seven Super Bowl championships in his career (as well as five Super Bowl MVPs), while Manning won two Super Bowl championships (and one Super Bowl MVP) in his career. [4] Contrarily, Manning would go on to win five MVP awards in his 18-year career, while Brady would win three in his 22-year career. Both quarterbacks also made the Pro Bowl fourteen or more times in their careers,[5] and both were selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019. Brady and Manning are the only starting quarterbacks to win Super Bowls with multiple franchises, and are believed by many as the best NFL players of the 2000s and 2010s.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Background[edit]
Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots from 2000, when he was the 199th selection in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft, through 2019.[14] After Drew Bledsoe was injured in week 2 of the 2001 season, Brady got his first career start against Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts, winning the game 44–13.[15] Brady was the Patriots' starting quarterback until the team's final game of the 2019 season, with the exception of 2008, when he tore his ACL in the opening game, and 2016, when he was suspended for the first four games of the season due to his alleged involvement in the Deflategate scandal. Brady appeared in a record ten Super Bowls (nine with the Patriots, one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and has won a record seven (six with the Patriots, one with the Buccaneers).
Manning was drafted by the Colts in the 1998 NFL draft as the number 1 pick, and played for the Colts until the team's final game of the 2010 season, as a neck injury caused him to miss the entire 2011 season. The Colts finished 2–14 that year in his absence and secured the #1 pick in the draft where he became expendable once consensus top prospect, quarterback Andrew Luck of Stanford, was available. During his time with the Colts, Manning led them to two Super Bowls, winning one.[16] On March 20, 2012, after fourteen years with the Colts, Manning signed with the Denver Broncos, for whom he played until his retirement following the 2015 season. He led the Broncos to two Super Bowl appearances, winning Super Bowl 50 in what would be his final game. Like Brady, Manning led his new team to their first Super Bowl win in nearly two decades.