Tom Brady didn’t need to wait for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ first road game of the season to get the opposing crowd to energize him.
Peyton Manning did that favor for him instead when he briefly talked about Brady during his Hall of Fame induction speech on Aug. 7, which led to the crowd booing. Brady expressed how much he relished it on Tuesday.
Peyton Manning talks about Tom Brady during HOF speech. The audience then had the audacity to boo Tom 🐐 Brady!
“I went to a party with a bunch of Colts, Raiders, and Steelers fans … here’s how it went,” Brady humorously wrote on Instagram. He included video of the moment when a chorus of boos rang throughout the Hall of Fame grounds and his initial reaction to it.
Brady tormented fans in Indianapolis, Oakland, and Pittsburgh throughout his career with the New England Patriots for 20 years before he left for the Bucs in 2020. Manning, who played quarterback for the Colts and later the Denver Broncos, faced Brady’s Patriots teams 17 times in his career.
Manning went 3-2 against Brady in the playoffs, but Brady owned the edge in matchups at 11-6 overall — regular season and postseason. Brady also led the Patriots in a rout of the Andrew Luck-led Colts in 2015 AFC Championship, which led to the Deflategate scandal.
Raiders fans endured “the Tuck Rule” game in 2002 when Brady avoided a fumble as the Patriots advanced in the playoffs on the way to a Super Bowl XXXVI victory. Brady owned the Raiders with a 6-1 record and likewise owned the Steelers during his Patriots days with a 12-3 record, including 3-0 in the playoffs.
Bruce Arians Not Surprised by Brady Getting Booed
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, who previously coached in Indianapolis and Pittsburgh during Brady’s run with the Patriots, pretty much expected Brady to get booed by the Hall of Fame crowd.
“Look at who was there – Denver, Indianapolis, Steelers. He got booed, hell yeah he got booed,” Arians said in Monday’s press conference.
Arians and other Bucs coaches attended the Hall of Fame festivities with Brady. Bucs quarterback coach Clyde Christensen and offensive consultant Tom Moore also coached in Indianapolis during Manning’s time.
“It was awesome having the Steelers and the Colts and the Bucs all there. It was very, very rewarding for me to see everybody,” Arians said. “Having so many Steeler players that I coached and obviously all the Colts from the first time and the second time. And obviously all the Bucs — it was a great night. Great night. Great for football.”
Hall of Fame Trip Was Brady’s Idea
Arians also said on Aug. 6 that Brady had the “idea to get us all up there” for the festivities. The coach described the friendship between the rival quarterbacks.
“It wasn’t as adversarial as everybody thought it was,” Arians said. “When you’re two guys in the stature they’re in, they’re about the only guys you can talk to. So, yeah, I think it speaks a lot about Tom.”
Christensen echoed that sentiment on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
“He continues to amaze me,” Christensen told McAfee. “For him to jump on a plane and go up to Peyton’s thing to support another QB and a friend, I thought it was above and beyond the call of duty.”
“He continues to amaze me. For him to jump on a plane & go up to Peyton’s thing to support another QB & a friend I thought it was above & beyond the call of duty”
#Bucs QB coach Clyde Christensen on @TomBrady going to the HOF induction #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE
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Tom Brady Reacts to Hall of Fame Haters