Tom Brady drew inspiration from Peyton Manning for his end zone run on Sunday
FOXBORO -- There was a lot of emotion running through Gillette Stadium on Sunday as Tom Brady was honored by the New England Patriots. The former quarterback did some running as well, treating fans to one more sprint down the sideline and into the end zone to fire up the New England faithful.
It was only natural that Brady recreated his usual pre-game routine, racing down the sideline in his No. 12 Patriots jersey while Jay-Z's "Public Service Announcement" blasted over the stadium speakers. He finished his run off with a fist pump and another fiery "Let's Go!" as he did throughout his 20 years in New England.
But it was a moment, Brady admitted Monday, that almost didn't happen. Early Sunday morning, Brady still wasn't sure what he was going to do when the Patriots introduced him ahead of the halftime ceremony.
Brady hit the internet to find some inspiration, and in turn, looked to one of his longtime rivals: Peyton Manning.
"On Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. when I woke up, I said, 'You know what I'm gonna do? I don't quite know what I'm gonna say to the crowd. Let me look at some of my favorite players get up there in their retirements and speak,'" Brady said on his Let's Go! podcast Monday night. "Of course I Google 'Peyton Manning jersey retirement speech.'"
When the Colts retired Manning's jersey in 2017, the quarterback took one last snap on-stage from his longtime center Jeff Saturday and threw a pass to Reggie Wayne in the end zone. Seeing Manning recreate something that he had done countless times in a Colts uniform was all the inspiration Brady needed for Sunday afternoon.
"So I was like, 'You know what? I'm gonna do something fun that the crowd's gonna really like,'" said Brady. "So let me run out there, kind of do my thing and I'll get up on stage and have a good time.
"So, Peyton, I will say, even though you weren't there, you were a part of that celebration for me yesterday," added Brady.
Another Brady celebration at Gillette is set for nine months from now, when the Patriots will induct the seven-time Super Bowl champ into the team's Hall of Fame. Brady has plenty of time to plan what he'll do for that special occasion, though he proved Sunday that he's still pretty good at making last-minute decisions.
