Peyton Manning admits to staying in AFC to keep Tom Brady rivalry alive

During an appearance on Tom Brady’s “Let’s Go!” podcast, Peyton Manning admitted that he stayed in the AFC to keep their rivalry alive.

Last week, former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL for the second time. However, he stresses that this retirement is “for good.” Of course, this caused the NFL world to once again remember Brady’s greatest moments from his 23-year career.

On Monday, Brady released his latest episode of the “Let’s Go” podcast alongside co-hosts Jim Gray and former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Some of the guests on this episode were Brady’s parents, his teammate Rob Gronkowski, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and one of his greatest foes in Peyton Manning.

During the episode, Manning told Brady that after he left the Indianapolis Colts, he purposely stayed in the AFC to keep their rivalry alive. The quote comes courtesy of Pro Football Focus’ Ari Meirov.

Peyton Manning says he stayed in AFC to keep rivalry with Tom Brady alive

The two quarterbacks faced off numerous times together when Brady led the Patriots and Manning led the Colts. When those two players faced off head-to-head when Manning was with Indianapolis, Brady led the way with 8 wins out of 12 meetings.

Manning’s tenure with the Colts reached its conclusion after he missed the entirety of the 2011 season due to spinal fusion surgery. Then, with the Colts clinching the No. 1 spot in the 2012 NFL Draft that guaranteed them Andrew Luck, Manning was released by the team that drafted him in 1998.After testing free agency, Manning chose to sign with the Broncos.

With Manning on the Broncos, he faced off against Brady and the Patriots five more times. Brady picked up three wins in those meetings. Their last head-to-head matchup was in the AFC Championship Game in the 2015 season, with Manning and the Broncos picking up the 20-18 win to clinch a berth in Super Bowl 50. After beating the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50, Manning announced his retirement from the NFL.

All time, Brady has picked up 11 victories in his 17 meetings with Manning.

With Brady deciding to retire once again, Manning had to let him know that he could have signed with an NFC team in 2012, but wanted to keep the rivalry alive.