Shannon Sharpe questions Messi vs Ronaldo rivalry while talking about Tom Brady and Peyton Manning

Shannon Sharpe sent Twitter aflutter recently when he questioned whether the great soccer rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could hold a candle to the Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning rivalry in the NFL. Considering his full name is Shannon Goad Sharpe, one could say he was living up to his middle name.

How often has Messi/Ronaldo actually faced each other? How many did one prevent the other from winning a title? https://t.co/kHpZAFcRpo

— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) August 9, 2021

If this argument is what you are in the mood for, you will find all the resources and material to marshall your arguments right here.

Who is Shannon Sharpe?

Shannon Sharpe is a former NFL player who played for the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens. As a tight end, he set records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. They have since been surpassed. However, he remains the first player to have reached the 10,000 receiving yards benchmark as a tight end. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

What Shannon Sharpe gets about the Peyton Manning and Tom Brady rivalry

The Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady rivalry is undoubtedly the greatest in the NFL. It was built on mutual respect between two players who reached their peaks at around the same time. While Peyton Manning regularly set records to become league MVP, his compatriot Tom Brady left him far behind in the Super Bowl.

Peyton Manning retired with 2 Super Bowls to his name. Tom Brady is still playing with 7 Super Bowls to his name. However, Peyton Manning has a record 5 league MVP awards to his name, while Tom Brady lags behind with 3. When they were both still playing, they were both in the same conference and therefore direct rivals to not only the Super Bowl, but the AFC Championship crown.

.@TomBrady and Peyton Manning once spent a few days together in the offseason in Tennessee They talked about the things they went through from the media, the pressure to their workout regimes.The Brady-Manning summit occurred only once and the duo gets together in Canton now pic.twitter.com/8Y5phx2XQs

— Sportskeeda Pro Football (@SKProFootball) August 6, 2021

What Shannon Sharpe needs to know about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

However, the Tom Brady and Peyton Manning rivalry in no way diminishes the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry. In fact, the rivalries have many parallels.

Lionel Messi leads the way in Ballon d'Or wins with 6 to his name, while Cristiano Ronaldo is one behind him. But in the biggest club football stage, Cristiano Ronaldo has won the UEFA Champions league 5 times, while Lionel Messi has won it only 4 times. Since both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are active players, they each have the chance to overhaul the other.

They also played together in the Spanish La Liga from 2009 to 2018. During that time, their teams Real Madrid and Barcelona were direct rivals, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were direct adversaries for individual prizes too.

In fact, there are many similarities between the rivalries. Hence, sports fans should enjoy both of them instead of trying to choose one over the other.