Brady preaches utmost respect for Manning amid 'unfortunate' benching

Eli Manning may haunt Tom Brady forever, but the reigning Super Bowl MVP will always respect his counterpart.

Manning, who defeated Brady and the New England Patriots twice in the Super Bowl, was benched in favor of Geno Smith, snapping a 210-game consecutive start streak.

Brady became the latest player to voice his support for Manning and didn't seem to agree with the Giants' decision.

"I have nothing but the most respect for him and everything he’s achieved and accomplished in his career,” Brady said Thursday to Jim Gray of Westwood One. "Obviously, being on the other side of two of those Super Bowl losses to an Eli Manning-led team, I just have so much respect for his dependability, for his consistency, for his toughness. You know, that’s really everything you want in an NFL player and I think Eli has always provided that for the team. So I think it’s a pretty unfortunate situation."

Although Brady showed his appreciation for Manning, he also noted that it's not entirely uncommon for veterans to get benched or traded during the latter stages of their careers.

"I think there’s always these types of situations,” Brady said. "I think as a fan growing up, I mean to see Joe Montana playing in another uniform and again to see Jerry Rice or Ronnie Lott, you know, guys that I really looked up to and admired, there’s not many happy endings in sports, and you know that’s just the way it is. You always wish for everything to go, you know, like a fairy tale but it doesn’t. Michael Jordan played for the Washington Wizards. I mean, who would have ever believed that? And that’s just pro sports."

It doesn't seem likely that Manning and the New York Giants will mount a challenge towards Brady and the Patriots ever again, but the 14-year veteran has the eternal respect of arguably the greatest player of all-time.