Former Patriots front office exec shares some memories of the Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning rivalry

The Peyton Manning-Tom Brady rivalry extends well beyond the playful banter seen between the two in recent years in commercials, as well as Brady's guest appearance on ManningCast, an alternative broadcast of Monday Night Football.

Manning even mentioned Tom Brady in his epic Hall of Fame induction speech.

In the 1990s, Brady's New England Patriots and Manning's Indianapolis Colts had several epic battles, many of which culminated in an AFC Championship matchup.

Recently, former Patriots Vice-President of Player Personnel, Scott Pioli, reminisced about a specific memory when the Patriots faced the Colts in the 2007 AFC Championship game.

The Peyton Manning-Tom Brady rivalry revisited by former Patriots executive

AFC Conference Championship - New England Patriots vs Indianapolis Colts - January 21, 2007

As Vice-President of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots from 2002-2007, Scott Pioli likely has several stories about the historic rivalry between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts.

Specifically, the rivalry between their two legendary quarterbacks.

Pioli spoke of a memory after the 2007 AFC Championship game with Good Morning Football on the NFL Network in which the Colts won by a score of 38-34.

Pioli noted that, after the loss, he had to make the "walk of shame," which is how he described having to walk across the field to pay respects to his rivals in the midst of falling confetti, streamers, and the like.

He also mentioned how he waited outside the Colts locker room to speak with Manning and other Colts players and staff to congratulate them, and he bumped into Archie and Eli Manning (Peyton's father and brother, respectively).

When Archie asked what he was doing there, Pioli stated he was there to "kiss the rings," which is a saying that was coined to indicate paying respect to those who have scored a victory.

During the interview, Pioli mentioned how deep his respect and admiration for the Colts players and staff ran. The rivalry between the Patriots and the Colts ran deep, but there was much respect between the two franchises, unlike other rivalries that have surfaced in the NFL since then.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy are well-respected in and out of NFL circles. Pioli and Bill Polian, the former general manager of the Colts from 1998-2009, also had mutual respect for one another, as stated in the interview with Pioli.

We may never see a rivalry quite like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady ever again...at least, we still have their rivalry off the field (Peyton Manning recently "updated" Tom Brady's stats as a guest adjuster on the Madden football video game).

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