Tom Brady and Peyton Manning had quite the rivalry back in the day. Who can forget when Brady led the Patriots to an epic comeback against the Broncos after being down 24-0 at halftime in the Week 12 game of the 2013 season? Or what about Peyton helping his Colts team overcome an 18-point deficit to win the AFC Championship in 2007? The two have shared numerous memorable battles and even after their retirement, they continue to trade barbs, albeit in a more light-hearted way.

Despite their on-field rivalry, it looks like Manning had a key role in Brady’s success at the Patriots. On November 27, Brady shared a video on X where he talked about how his biggest rival taught him a play that he frequently ran with Rob Gronkowski. He said, “I met with Peyton Manning for like three days, and he taught me the play that he used to run a lot. We ended up installing the play in our offense, and we got Rob Gronkowski. It ended up, probably half of Gronk’s receiving yards were on this concept. I’m like, ‘Thanks, Peyton!'” 

Well, it turns out Manning has a slightly different version of events, one that he talked about on the Breakdown podcast with former Pats coach Bill Belichick. Manning playfully accused the New England Patriots’ former quarterback Brady, and his favorite partner Rob Gronkowski, of stealing his secret weapon.

The Omaha Productions owner said, “Y’all stole this play from us… Gronk & Brady should’ve sent me a check every time they ran this play because they copied it from our Colts offense.” Peyton Manning was actually talking about his special play known as the “trap pass.” This play-action pass is all about timing and trickery. But what happens in this play?

Well, here the quarterback fakes a quick handoff, just enough to make the linebackers bite. They step forward, thinking it’s a run, leaving a momentary gap. That’s when the tight end makes his move, sprinting across the field and the quarterback doesn’t wait. He fires the football quickly, aiming to connect before the linebackers recover and drop back into coverage. Tom Brady & Rob Gronkowski pulled it through very well in most of their games.

Manning shared the clip from the podcast on Instagram with the caption, “After talking with Coach @billbelichick on The Breakdown about Cooper Rush’s Trap Pass, it made me think Tom & Gronk owe me royalties… and a little credit would be nice, too.” Brady didn’t take long to respond.

Taking to the comment section of the Instagram post, the seven-time Super Bowl winner wrote, “Checks in the mail (with playful emojis).” The $300 million rich Brady playfully implied that he shared a check with Manning for his teachings.

Brady would often run this play which would get the opposing defense’s linebackers to come towards the line of scrimmage in anticipation of a run. Instead, it was a pass and he would find Gronk with ease down the field. This was a staple of New England’s offense with Brady and Gronk running the show.

However, this isn’t the first time this trap pass discussion has been brought up between these these two legends.

The episode of Peyton’s Places, last year, with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning was pure gold. After filming, they headed over to Jim Nantz’s house to hit the golf course, and what followed was hilarious. During their playful banter, at one point, Manning asked Brady about his favorite throw.

Without missing a beat, Brady teased the former Colts star saying, “I love throwing seams.” This resulted in Manning recalling his trap pass, as he jumped in, proudly mentioning his “trap pass.” With this, he teased that Brady and Rob Gronkowski had borrowed it. Not only that! He even joked that Brady should send him money for it, by saying, “You oughta send me money for it.” Notably, the banter between the two players has carried even after their retirement.

Brady, who is in his first season as a broadcast analyst for FOX, took a subtle dig at Manning during the October game between the Lions and the Cowboys. The game saw multiple offensive pass interference calls made on the Lions, leading to Brady bringing up Manning.

He said, “Over the years they’ve gotten really tight on calling those pick plays. Any remote contact draws a flag. I saw Peyton Manning when he threw 55 touchdowns, there were more pick plays in that offense than in the history of NFL football. Since then they’ve been cracking down.” 

Meanwhile, Manning isn’t the only one who has demanded Brady give them a slice of his enormous wealth.

Rob Gronkowski wants compensation from Brady over roast

Tom Brady’s roast on Netflix in May drew a lot of attention as Hollywood stars and others joined in to give the NFL legend a hard time. But apart from Brady, his former teammate Gronkowski was also on the receiving end of some punches, especially by American standup comedian and actress Nikki Glaser.

Recalling the night on the November 25 edition of The Quick Snap podcast, Gronk asked Brady to pay him up for the strays he caught. “The roast was one of the best nights of all time. The zingers were definitely thrown. I almost took as many strays as Brady! So I think he still owes me you know a nice little check that he still hasn’t sent me. I want it directly from his bank account as well not from Netflix. I want it from him,” he said.

Well, Brady is yet to respond to this demand and if he does we can expect another smart retort from the NFL icon, just like the one to Manning.