Tom Brady doesn’t respect Vols football or Peyton Manning’s Smokey head cover
By John Buhler
Tom Brady has no use for Tennessee football or Smokey head coverings on golf clubs.
While “The Match” didn’t exactly give us a ton of elite golfing moments, outside of this one shot by Tom Brady, it certainly made up for it with the extreme pettiness displayed by Brady and his AFC football rival Peyton Manning.
During their practice time off the tee, Manning suggested that Nick Foles be Brady’s caddie in future renditions of this event. It was such a massive troll job, it was hilarious. Even though these two quarterbacks are best known for starring in the NFL, they also have strong allegiances to their college football teams.
Manning has such strong ties to the Tennessee Volunteers that he straight-up refused to wear Red and Black to match his golfing partner Tiger Woods. It’s Woods signature Sunday look, but Manning was not about to dress in Georgia Bulldogs colors so Kirby Smart could negatively recruit against the Vols. Not with that SEC East rivalry.
Though Manning may love his Vols, Brady has no use for their football team. See, Brady is a Michigan man, and a proud one at that. He caught one glimpse of a Smokey head covering in Manning’s golf bag and had some fun with it at his football rival’s expense.
Tom Brady didn’t win over any fans in Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.
Brady removed the Smokey head covering from Manning’s golf bag and pretended to step on the bluetick hound’s head. Though Brady didn’t desecrate Smokey’s likeness, he did deliver a most savage burn of Manning: “They haven’t been good since you left.”
Though the Vols did win a national title literally the year after Manning went No. 1 overall to the Indianapolis Colts, it hasn’t been a great decade-plus for Tennessee football. Since Tennessee fired its longtime head coach Phillip Fulmer in 2008, the Vols haven’t won the SEC East a single time. While Michigan football has had its issues too, it’s still quite the dig of Manning by Brady.
What’s been pretty cool about “The Match” has been the collegiate smack talk by all involved. Manning is proudly repping his Vols, while Brady is all about his Wolverines. In the TNT booth, you can hear Auburn alum Charles Barkley go at it with professional golfer Justin Thomas, who has Alabama Crimson Tide ties. Who says rivalries don’t matter? They’re awesome.
All we know is when Tennessee football is back, Brady can’t go back to Rocky Top after this.