National Football League

Tom Brady reveals what he and Peyton Manning talked about during surprise reunion

Published Dec. 20, 2016 9:37 a.m. ET

Nick Schwartz

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots visited frigid Denver over the weekend and improved to 12-2 with a 16-3 win over the Broncos - and two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning was on hand to watch his old nemesis face his old team.

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In an interview with Jim Gray on Westwood One Monday night, Brady talked about his meeting with Manning - who he didn't expect to see - and explained if he thinks Manning misses the game of football.

Via Westwood One:

"It was a nice surprise. I didn't realize he'd be at the game. I saw him briefly before the game, and then I saw him after the game with his kids. So it was nice to see his kids are growing up fast, just like mine are.

He and I have had a lot in common over the years. I thought he was just one of the very best to play the position. I always looked up to him and admired him for everything that he accomplished in the league as a great leader for his team. He was just a spectacular player. So I've always enjoyed being around him and certainly always talking a lot of football.... For the most part, we haven't seen each other in a long time, so it was just catching up, talking about our families, some holiday plans, just a lot of very cordial conversation.

Does he miss football?

Well, yeah, I think he does. I think everyone misses football. He loves football so much, so much of what we talked about over the years was football. Whether he'd want to ever play... I'm not sure if that's the case. He loves the game, it's something that he's done since he was a little kid... He keeps track of everything that's going on, obviously his brother's still playing and he wants the Giants to win every week, and he wants Denver to win every week. He's got a lot of coaches at different teams and organizations that he roots for, and a lot of individual players. That's just the way it goes. When you're around for as long as he's been, as long as I've been, you have a lot of friends who aren't directly with your own team, but you still pull for a lot of guys around the league."