One of the greatest quarterback rivalries in NFL history will see one of them enter the Hall of Fame this weekend. The other, based on the intended duration of his remaining career, is at least seven years away.
As Peyton Manning prepares for enshrinement and as Tom Brady prepares to attend the event, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times recently shared some interesting tidbits about the rivalry.
Despite the on-field competition, they found a way to build a cooperative relationship away from the field. Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen, who also has coached Peyton Manning, explained that the duo once spent a few days together in the offseason in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at a time when both men were in their thirties.
“There was no peer to talk to that understood what they were going through except each other,” Christensen said, via Stroud. “The demands, the lights, the pressure -- all those things. They had a little summit where they worked out together and they threw together and they trained together and then they’d sit and talk, and they had a great list of topics they went through. How do you work out now? How do you handle blitz packages? How do you handle a difficult receiver? How do you handle the media. . . . For the great ones, it’s about getting better and playing great, and they do bring that out in each other. Also, they’re willing to help each other. No one but Brady and Manning pull that off, and nobody knew about it.”
It’s hard not to wonder whether Patriots coach Bill Belichick knew about it, and whether he was happy about it. Belichick likely would be concerned that Manning may have been trying to pry information about the New England defense from Brady, even if that never happened.
The fact the Brady-Manning Tennessee summit occurred only once invites curiosity as to why it didn’t happen a second time. Maybe it’s because Belichick caught wind of it -- and shut it down.
