Tom Brady Was Intrigued by What Peyton Manning Did with Broncos, Says Bucs Coach

Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen said Tom Brady found parallels between his arrival in Tampa Bay and Peyton Manning's tenure in Denver. 

"He said one of the things that looked really fun and challenging to him was what Peyton [Manning] did at Denver," Christensen said on The Zach Gelb Show (8:30 mark). "Like kind of the same scenario [in Tampa]. ... There was something about that challenge that hit [Brady] right. 'Hey, I'm going to go see if I can do this again somewhere else.' I do think that the challenge of that was a huge thing for him. ... He's mentioned several times that he was impressed [with Manning's accomplishments in Denver] and that looked fun and challenging to him."

Manning signed with the Broncos in 2012 after missing the entire 2011 season with the Colts following spinal fusion surgery. He spent four successful years in Denver, blasting single-season NFL records for passing yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55) in 2013 and winning Super Bowl 50 before retiring in 2016.

Brady probably won't ever touch any individual records in Tampa, but he's already ahead of Manning from a team standpoint, winning Super Bowl LV in his first season with the Bucs. The 43-year-old threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns against 12 interceptions in 2020, marking just the second time in his career he's topped the 40-touchdown mark.

While there are some similarities between the two situations—both were franchise legends who left their longtime teams with many unsure they could still perform at an elite level—they aren't direct parallels. Brady arrived to an already-loaded Tampa team and influenced the team to add Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown to an already productive receiving corps.

Manning turned Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker into stars after neither had much history of production, and both players fell off after his retirement. It's fair to say Brady picked a situation that was more conducive to immediate Super Bowl contention, though Manning did reach two Super Bowls, winning one, in four years with the Broncos.