“Checks in the Mail”: Tom Brady and Gronk Respond to Peyton Manning’s Hilarious Accusation of Copying Plays From The Colts

The NFL is a copycat league. If there’s a play or scheme that works for one team, you can bet another will try to implement some variation of it in their own playbook. Now, Peyton Manning believes one of his signature concepts helped the New England Patriots dominate the league. And he wants a payout for his assistance.

During his Monday Night Football preview on ‘The Breakdown’ with Bill Belichick, Manning informed the former head coach he knew the Pats lifted one of their most successful plays from the Indianapolis Colts.

Manning then said Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski should have “sent me a check every time they ran this play.”

Belichick confirmed New England’s actions with a chuckle.

“You’re right, Peyton. I’ll give you all the credit in the world for that play. We did take it from you.”

Brady and Gronk didn’t appear on the show but popped up in the Instagram post’s comment section.

Gronkowski didn’t offer financial compensation for the apparent thievery. Instead, he claimed the Patriots “let” Manning’s Denver Broncos beat New England in the 2015 AFC Championship game in exchange for the play. Manning captured the second Super Bowl of his legendary career two weeks later.

As for Brady, he simply quipped, “Checks in the mail,” cheekily acknowledging that they did steal it from the Colts but there’s nothing Manning can do about it now.

In this play, the quarterback initiates a deceptive quick handoff, just enough to draw the linebackers in, making them believe it’s a run. This momentary distraction creates a gap as they step forward.

Seizing the opportunity, the tight end bursts into action, sprinting across the field. The quarterback, recognizing the opening, doesn’t hesitate; he swiftly releases the football, aiming to connect with the tight end before the linebackers can recover and drop back into coverage.

The chemistry between the quarterback and the TE, then, is a crucial aspect of this play and it worked so well for the Pats because of the chemistry between Brady and Gronk.

Gronkowski hauled in 620 passes for 9,275 yards and 93 touchdowns from Tom Brady during their time together. Nobody can be certain how much of that production came from the “trap pass”, but Belichick joked it was the reason Gronk dominated the league.

“You know, Gronk’s gonna go to the Hall of Fame with that play. I mean, he must have got half his yardage on that play, the play action with the guard pulling. We should have called it, ‘Colt’!”

Brady and Gronkowski can be seen on FOX this upcoming Sunday. Gronkowski is a studio host for FOX’s NFL coverage, while Brady will be providing color commentary for the Buffalo Bills-Los Angeles Rams matchup at 4:25 p.m. E.T.