Ever since Peyton Manning retired after winning the Super Bowl five years ago, Tom Brady has had another Hall-of-Fame career. He won three Super Bowls, two Super Bowl MVPs with two different teams and a regular season MVP.
However, fresh off of leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl Championship in his first year there, Brady appears to still be trying to live up to another standard. It’s the standard set by the Tennessee football legend.
Clyde Christensen, Brady’s quarterbacks coach in Tampa, said on CBS Sports Radio’s The Zach Gelb Show earlier this week that one thing that pushed Brady this past year was Peyton Manning being the only quarterback at the time to win the Super Bowl with two different franchises. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“He said one of the things that looked really fun and challenging to him is what Peyton did in Denver. There was something about that challenge that hit [Brady] right. ‘Hey, I’m going to go see if I can do this again somewhere else.'”"
In 2006-07, Manning won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts. He won his second with the Denver Broncos in 2015-16. He also reached the Super Bowl with four different coaches. Despite all of Brady’s accomplishments, nothing was without Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots until this past year.
Brady didn’t just match one of the only championship advantages Manning held over him. He surpassed it. Manning’s Super Bowl in Denver was in his fourth year, and he had little to do with it. On the other hand, Brady won the title his first year in Tampa and earned Super Bowl MVP.
Still, it’s impressive for Manning that despite all of Brady’s accomplishments and his ability to extend his career in a way Manning couldn’t, Manning was still the guy he was trying to reach. Honestly, Brady’s not done with that either.
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Don’t forget, despite no longer holding the career records for passing yards or passing touchdowns, Peyton Manning is still the standard for peak performances. He has the most regular season MVPs with five, and he won one of them in Denver. Brady only has three but hasn’t won one without Belichick just yet.
Also, when it comes to records, Manning still holds the single-season records still for passing yards and touchdowns, which he set in 2004. Simply put, Manning’s peak was still better than Brady’s even if Brady has more long-term career value. Oh, and Manning finished 3-2 against Brady in the playoffs.
We should also note that even career value is debatable. According to the Pro-Football Reference Hall of Fame monitor, which uses a formula break down all career accomplishments from MVPs to Super Bowls to All-Pro appearances to championships to starts and milestones, Manning leads all quarterbacks with a score of 258 to Brady’s score of 250.
Interestingly enough, Tennessee football has two of the top five players on this score, as Reggie White is fourth with 237 points. Jerry Rice is first with 311.81 points, Manning is second and Brady is third.
If he plays another year, though, Brady could definitely surpass Peyton Manning on that front. It’s clear that his longevity is working in his favor, and him constantly taking pay cuts while staying on a rigid diet to extend his career is to be rewarded.