Tom Brady has spent more than two decades carving up opposing defenses to the tune of seven Super Bowl victories, 600-plus touchdowns and over 81,000 passing yards. But as a second-quarter play unfolded during “Monday Night Football’s” Manningcast, he provided a light-hearted glimpse into how he actually views those defensive players.
Brady’s comment came when New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston scrambled out of the pocket and turned a broken play into an 18-yard scramble with a pump-fake after crossing the line of scrimmage. During the replay, when it showed a Seattle Seahawks defender biting for the fake, Brady said that “defense is kind of like a dog chasing a car. Just get the guy with the ball.”
“Have you ever been in some of those defensive meeting rooms?” Brady said. “You wonder why they play defense and after about two minutes you go, ‘Yep, they could never be an offensive player.’”
Peyton Manning, who hosts the broadcast with his brother Eli, replied “I’m sure (Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety) Antoine Winfield (Jr.) really appreciates those comments, for sure. Let me know how that conversation goes at breakfast in the morning.”
The Manningcast returned to ESPN2 as an alternate broadcast for “Monday Night Football” for the first time since Week 3, when Peyton and Eli called the Dallas Cowboys’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Their audience reportedly reached 1.89 million for that game, up from 1.86 million the previous week and they attracted 14.6% of the September game’s total audience, according to ProFootballTalk.
That left them with seven games left over the season’s remaining weeks to reach the 10-game threshold outlined in their deal announced by ESPN for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. For their fourth week, Brady was one of four guests — along with Marshawn Lynch, Sue Bird and Drew Brees — and appeared on the broadcast the day after he became the first NFL player to throw for 600 touchdown passes.
Brady discussed the process for retrieving that historic ball after wide receiver Mike Evans gave it to a fan during his celebration, and also addressed Rob Gronkowski’s statement from his Sept. 20 Manningcast appearance about not watching film.
Lynch’s segment, on the other hand, included an F-bomb and a reference to his pregame ritual of taking one-and-a-half shots of Hennessy. When Eli asked Lynch if he “warmed up” before the Manningcast segment, Lynch replied that he had a “three-shot minimum.” One for him, one for “big bro” and one for “little bro.”
“Thank you for that tribute,” Peyton replied. “I appreciate that.”
Later in the broadcast, after the Lynch and Brady segments ended, Peyton mentioned only Warren Moon could throw the new balls with spirals “out of the box” and how the equipment workers had a “special sauce” when it came to breaking in the new footballs. “I can’t reveal what’s in the sauce,” he added, but Eli mentioned that the equipment workers would rub and sand the balls while Peyton added that they’d put them in the sauna.
The Manningcast will return next week when the Giants travel to Arrowhead Stadium and face the Kansas City Chiefs.