Peyton Manning rejected NFC offers only to stop Tom Brady from winning more Super Bowls

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning's rivalry was one of the best quarterback rivalries in NFL history. They won a total of nine Super Bowls and prevented each other from winning multiple times.

Manning recently went on Brady's "Let's Go!" podcast. He claimed that he stayed in the AFC after turning down offers to play for NFC teams in order to compete with Brady.

Here's what Peyton Manning said about his decision to join the Denver Broncos after leaving the Indianapolis Colts:

"Tom was a big reason why I decided to stay in the AFC after I left the Colts. I easily could have gone to a couple of NFC teams, but I thought, no, look, I played against Tom a bunch and the Patriots and eventually, you're gonna have to play him at some point."

He continued:

"Even if you go to the NFC and you make the Super Bowl, you're probably going to play them I said, you know, let me at least try to earn it in the AFC, you know, seeing them in the playoffs."

Manning added:

"So, I enjoyed those games. I enjoyed that rivalry and so, that was actually one of the reasons I decided to stay in the AFC in chapter two for me."

Although Peyton Manning is 3-1 in AFC Championship games against Brady and the New England Patriots, Tom Brady has five more Super Bowls than Manning.

Eli Manning, Peyton's brother, also prevented Brady from winning two Super Bowls. Brady could have won more than ten Super Bowls if it hadn't been for the Manning family.

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Peyton Manning discusses what Tom Brady will miss most after retirement

Peyton Manning retired in 2016 after winning the Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers and is already enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He discussed what Tom Brady will miss most now that he has retired.

Here's what Manning said:

"Just seeing those group of guys every single day, you know, for me, seeing you know, Jeff, Saturday and Dallas Clark… in the locker room every day, like we still tax for our thread together. A bunch of us were in a fantasy football league together, but you don't see him every day and I think that is the thing that I missed the most."

Manning added:

"It's hard to explain a being in that locker room being in that huddle. With ten other guys when you got 85,000 people booing you and saying you know all these things about you, but it's just us in this huddle. Those are things that are hard to replicate and you know, the advice that I got was Don't chase trying to replicate those things because they really just don't exist..."

He continued:

"But you enjoy these little quiet victories along the way in these little competitions. It's moments with your family, it's moments with your kids. It's like it's a conversation with a teammate that you haven't talked to in a while that you've kind of connected with and find out what he's doing. So there's still so many great things ahead..."

Tom Brady will need time to acclimatize to life without football. He is eager to begin the next chapter of his life and has already said that he will be seen in the broadcasting booth beginning in 2024.

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB already has a lot of things lined up for him, and perhaps he will have success off the field as well.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Let's Go podcast and H/T Sportskeeda.