Sometimes being the best doesn’t make people like you.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady kept surpassing each other.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady kept surpassing each other.LAPRESSE

 

One of the best rivalries the NFL has seen in recent history was between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Within the past 20 years, the two teams faced each other five times in the playoffs, including three AFC Championship games.

The rivalry was born from the elite play of quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who put their franchise in the national spotlight every single week. Brady had a longer career and won more hardware, but many still believe Manning was the better pure signal-caller.

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Julian Edelman never liked Peyton Manning

If you ask Brady’s former teammate Julian Edelman, he had it out for Manning from before he even entered the NFL. But his reasoning might surprise you.

[Brady] was a Bay Area guy, and I never liked Indy. I got the tail end of that whole thing, the Indy-Pats. But I never liked Peyton Manning. He was always the guy, he was the best guy in college, the best guy in high school. His dad was a pro. He was the guy and he was a f***ing stud. I liked Tom because… people were still saying Peyton was the best quarterback.

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Despite Brady winning three Super Bowls from 2001-2004, Manning was still largely considered the better quarterback. Manning won the NFL MVP award in 2003 and 2004, two seasons in which the Patriots ended up winning the Super Bowl.

It wasn’t until 2007 that Brady began truly establishing himself as an offensive powerhouse at the position. Edelman liked that Brady had that “underdog” mentality. It all started by being a 6th round draft pick, but he had a chip on his shoulder even when racking up Super Bowls due to Manning’s presence.