Tom Brady-Peyton Manning showdowns were once the most anticipated matchup in the NFL.
Now, as Manning, 45, is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Sunday, his old rival will be at his side.
“Tom Brady is coming in, sitting in my section,” Manning said during Fox’s Hall of Fame preseason game broadcast between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys on Thursday.
Brady will join Manning’s former teammates and coaches in sitting in the two-time Super Bowl champion’s section.
“I’m not sure how my Colts teammates will handle that, but that means a lot that he’s taking the time,” he joked.
Brady, 44, is currently in training camp with the Buccaneers after leading the team to a Super Bowl in his first season with the team.
Over the 15 seasons that Brady and Manning played in the NFL together, Brady’s team won 11 of their 17 high-stakes matchups. However, Manning led Brady’s Patriots 3-2 in playoff wins from his time with the Colts (1998-2011) and Broncos (2012-15).
According to Tampa Bay quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen — who worked with Manning at one point — the pair of QBs once spent several days in the offseason together to discuss football strategy, dealing with the media and a variety of other topics.
“There was no peer to talk to that understood what they were going through except each other,” Christensen said. “… They’re willing to help each other. No one but Brady and Manning pull that off, and nobody knew about it.”
In January, when Manning was voted into the HOF, Brady had only praise for Manning and their relationship.
“Peyton was someone that I always just admired as a quarterback, as a leader of a team,” Brady said. “I always looked up to Peyton because he was a little older than me and always doing things the right way. His team was always in it. I know our teams had a rivalry against one another, but when you went against a Peyton-led team, you were going against the best team in the league. It’s no real surprise that he’d be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”