"He Was My Enemy": Tom Brady Made Himself Believe Peyton Manning Didn't Respect Him

"He Was My Enemy": Tom Brady Made Himself Believe Peyton Manning Didn't Respect Him originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Tom Brady will never forget his rivalry with Peyton Manning. After all, the former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos superstar played a key role in shaping the New England Patriots icon into the legendary player he became.

Brady himself said as much in his latest 199 Newsletter, wherein he reflected on the rivalries he was part of during his playing career.

Aside from talking about the storied rivalry between his former college team, the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes, TB12 also discussed his battles with Manning during their heyday.

From 2001 to 2015, Brady and Manning faced off against each other 17 times. The former won the head-to-head matchup 11-6, but the latter had the advantage in playoff matchups 3-2.

According to Brady, Manning pushed him to be more competitive since he knew very well he couldn't afford to slip up against him. The seven-time Super Bowl winner also highlighted the mentality he had in his rivalry with the five-time NFL MVP, noting that he didn't let his respect for him get in the way of winning.

"When I look back on my relationship with Peyton Manning, my respect, admiration, and appreciation for him as a competitor has grown with each passing year," Brady said.

"It was always there, don’t misunderstand, but while we were competing against each other I couldn’t let that get in the way of the fact that he was my enemy, that he didn’t respect me, that he thought he was better than me because he was a #1 pick from an SEC school—or at least that’s what I made myself believe."

Brady added that convincing himself that Manning looked down on him created a "sense of urgency" within him to prove his rival wrong. Brady continued, "it provided the extra bit of energy and motivation necessary to lock in and focus and execute just that much more."

Tom Brady, however, did say that Peyton Manning was a "gift" to his NFL career because he needed someone to inspire him to be better and a "target to aim for."

"Thank you for challenging me to be the best I could be, to dig deep in March and April and May when nobody was watching, and to have expectations for myself that were above and beyond what others thought was possible," Brady further said of Manning.

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared.