While Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were once bitter rivals and still are today, they were close friends off the field of play for many years.
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Tom Brady, who served as a panelist for the NFL Network special, and Manning were both selected for the NFL 100 All-Time Team back in 2019. When talking about Peyton Manning, Brady brought up an untold story about spending a few days with the former quarterback of the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts in an off-season meeting.
Tom Brady discussed Manning’s distinctive fitness routine and the lessons he learned from meeting this legendary player.
Brady stated “I obviously had and still have a great friendship with Peyton. And one that I doubt I’ve ever really told, according to my assessment. Maybe a few, but we got together one off-season and talked football for two or three days. We are the only two. And I learned a lot from it, you know, and we exercised together”.
Brady Continued “Peyton had his little scripted workout where he had to make two throws while running to the right. I asked him if he would like to make three while running to the right, and he replied, Well, I don’t know, I just do two. The workout was very organised and enjoyable.”
Tom Brady claims that a tip from Peyton Manning helped Rob Gronkowski
As part of the NFL Network’s “NFL 100” programme, Brady disclosed that a conversation he had with fellow future Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning contributed to Gronkowski’s dominance. Brady recalled that Manning, his rival quarterback, discussed a specific scheme during an offseason practice that the Patriots would later use to great success with Gronkowski.
“One offseason we got together to talk football for two or three days. Just the two of us.” 🐐🐐@TomBrady talks about his experience working with his #NFL100 All-Time teammate Peyton Manning 👀
📺: NFL 100 All-Time Team on NFL Network pic.twitter.com/l8Ct3Rl3t5
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) December 28, 2019
“They had a defense mechanism known as the “counter-hot” defense. They would then run a play-action, throw a few combinations off of it, “said Brady. When I returned from this meeting, Bill O’Brien was the offensive coordinator for the Patriots. I told him, “Billy, we’ve got to put this protection in.”
Brady declared, “I swear to God, off of that action we do a lot of things.” “We definitely call that protection against [Manning’s Colts] at least once or twice a game, and Rob Gronkowski probably gets 50% of his offensive production on that play.”
Brady will be remembered as the best quarterback in the history of the sport, but it’s obvious that even he would acknowledge that his greatness was assisted by many others who came before him.