Tag: peyton manning hall of fame

Bill Belichick: Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback I’ve coached against

Bill Belichick had the highest praise for Peyton Manning this week, though Tom Brady waits in the wings as Belichick’s most dangerous opponent.

Throughout his NFL career, Peyton Manning faced the New England Patriots 19 times. His Colts and Broncos teams won six games to 13 losses, and in those games, Manning completed 453 of 723 passes for 5,316 yards, 43 touchdowns, 26 interceptions, and a passer rating of 89.8. This included five postseason games from 2004 through 2016 — Manning’s teams won three of those games, including the 2015 AFC Championship game victory that led Manning to his final Super Bowl, his final Super Bowl win, and his final game.

This week, on the occasion of Manning’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Bill Belichick was effusive in his praise of Manning.

“He is definitely the best quarterback I’ve coached against,” Belichick told Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. “There have been quarterbacks who called their own plays, but it was nowhere near the same as what he did. He basically called every play by adjusting and/or changing the play once he saw what the defense was doing. He excelled at using the cadence and recognizing blitzes, and more than any one single offensive player, he forced us to change and adapt defensive game plans.”

Fair points all, though Manning’s streak as the best quarterback Belichick has ever gameplanned against will likely take a hit leading up to Week 4 of the 2021 season. That’s when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to Gillette Stadium, and Belichick will have to array his defense against Tom Brady — who, you may remember, had a fairly successful run with Belichick over the years.

Tom Brady endures good-natured boos during Peyton Manning’s Hall of Fame speech

Think the Peyton Manning-Tom Brady rivalry is over? Manning’s Hall of Fame speech proved otherwise.

If iron sharpens iron, as they say, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have been doing that for each other since 2001. Brady’s first start as an NFL quarterback came in Week 3 of the 2001 season, in which his Patriots beat Manning’s Colts, 44-13. The two quarterbacks faced off over and over throughout their careers, often in the AFC’s most important games of a season, and just as sure as Manning went into the Hall of Fame as a sure-shot first-ballot Hall of Famer, Brady will do the same — five years after he retires, whenever that may be.

It is a sign of the respect the two men hold for each other that Brady made sure to travel from his pre-season preparations with the Buccaneers to be in attendance for Manning’s induction and speech on Sunday. Brady was in the audience when Manning took the stage and gave a stirring speech in which he exhorted everyone in the crown to work together to make the game greater. Manning also took some humorous shots at the new policy, exacted for the 2020 and 2021 classes, that acceptance speeches can only be six minutes long. Manning took a shot at Ray Lewis, who he joked just finished the acceptance speech he started in 2018. Manning noted that the speeches will probably be cut down to four minutes sooner than later.

“And speaking of rivals,” Manning then said, “my good friend Tom Brady is here tonight. By the time he is inducted…”

*pause for boos from the Colts-heavy audience*

“…by the time Tom Brady is inducted in his first year of eligibility in the year 2035, he’ll only have time to post his acceptance speech on his Instagram account.”

Brady could be seen asking the crowd, “What’s up with that?” with a grin. Perhaps Manning will attend Brady’s Hall of Fame speech, and we can see then if turnabout is fair play!