Peyton Manning revealed that his rivalry with Tom Brady was a driving force in his decision to stay in the AFC after parting ways with the Indianapolis Colts.
Appearing on Brady's "Let's Go!" podcast Monday, Manning explained that the allure of continuing to face the New England Patriots was one of the reasons he signed with the Denver Broncos in 2012.
"I've never told anybody this, but Tom was a big reason why I decided to stay in the AFC after I left the Colts," Manning said.
"I easily could've gone to a couple of NFC teams but I thought, 'No, look, I've played against Tom a bunch and the Patriots, and eventually you're gonna have to play 'em at some point.' Even if you go to the AFC and you make the Super Bowl, you're probably gonna play them. I said, 'Let me at least try to earn it in the AFC, seeing 'em in the playoffs.' And so I enjoyed those games. I enjoyed that rivalry. And so that was actually one of the reasons I decided to stay in the AFC in Chapter 2 for me."
The two quarterbacks faced each other 17 times in their careers, including five playoff games. Brady went 11-6 in those matchups, though Manning holds a 3-2 edge in the postseason.
The last time Brady and Manning squared off was in the 2015 AFC Championship Game, which the Broncos won 20-18.
