Getty Tom Brady's unretirement led to Peyton Manning jokingly wanting his retirement gifts back.
Congratulations poured in for Tom Brady when he retired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but one Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning wants a few things back from Brady since returning.
Manning sent a long letter and a bottle of wine to Brady, congratulating him on his retirement.
“I want the letter back. You got to read all these nice things, I want it back. I want the bottle of wine back, too,” Manning jokingly said during a MINT Collective program.
Peyton Manning had jokes for Tom Brady 😅
(via @1MINTCollective)
Brady and Manning competed against each other many times from 2001 to 2015 before Manning’s retirement. Last year, Brady attended Manning’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and Manning gave Brady a hard time during the induction speech. Brady previously joked that he wanted to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony to “make sure” Manning will stay retired.
Recently, Brady gave Manning a hard time about finally joining Instagram. Brady has been active on Instagram for years.
“I already had an Instagram … so I just unretired when I got bored,” Brady wrote. “Welcome Peyton!”
The off-field banter will continue though the on-field competition between the two legends won’t. Brady has an 11-6 record all-time against Manning-led teams.
Bruce Arians: ‘We Would’ve Turned Over Every Stone’
After Brady retired on Feb. 1, Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and general manager Jason Licht went on a diligent search for a new starting quarterback. That search ended March 13 when Brady announced his comeback.
“We had started to uncover as many stones as we possibly could,” Arians told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche at the Annual league meeting via NFL.com’s Adam Maya. “We would’ve turned over every stone. … Jason did his calls. We were in the midst of all that stuff when Tom decided to come back and [expletive] we could say, ‘No thanks, brother. We’re out of it.'”
GettyRetirement rumors ramped up as Tom Brady walked off the field on Jan. 23 following a season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Considerations included everything from trading for former Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson to starting Bucs backup Blaine Gabbert. With Brady’s return, key Bucs free agents and players from other teams had jumped on board in free agency.
“A sense of relief,” Licht described it in a March 21 press conference. “We were all excited. I think probably the same like any fan here has been and any person on staff here. We’re all very excited. Why wouldn’t you be?”
Licht: ‘We’ve Got the Ultimate Cheat Code With Tom’
Brady’s return swung the momentum of the Bucs’ offseason from being a team on the edge of regressing to a serious Super Bowl contender instead.
“We’ve got the ultimate cheat code with Tom,” Licht told the media. “So, we’re going to take advantage of it while we have it. I think players like it here, regardless. But, having a player like that throwing the ball to them, or even being on the other side of the ball knowing that he’s your quarterback, it certainly helps.”
The receiver room, for instance, looked bleak at the end of the 2021 season with Chris Godwin injured and set for free agency plus Antonio Brown jumping ship. The Bucs signed Godwin to a long-term deal, signed Russell Gage from Atlanta, and re-signed Breshad Perriman.
“When you have a player like Tom, who’s the greatest quarterback of all-time, if not player, players want to play with a guy like that,” Licht said.
READ NEXT: Bucs’ Tom Brady Joining a New Team Could Come True, Analyst Says