With Tom Brady retiring, Mike Francesa reminded everyone how Peyton Manning was actually better

New England Patriots' Tom Brady, right, shakes hands with Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning after a game between New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, Sunday, November 5, 2006. Colts won 27-20. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
New England Patriots' Tom Brady, right, shakes hands with Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning after a game between New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, Sunday, November 5, 2006. Colts won 27-20. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) /
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After Tom Brady announced his retirement, Mike Francesa made the case that Indianapolis Colts legend, Peyton Manning, was somewhat better.

On Wednesday, Tom Brady announced his retirement for the second time. Exactly one year after his first retirement, Brady took to his social media accounts with an emotional video to say that this time he was retiring “for good.” After 23 seasons and an extensive list of awards and accolades, this announcement of course led to the world praising Brady’s career and letting it be known that he’s the greatest of all time. However, not everyone is entirely sold on that being the case.

Sports talk show host, Mike Francesa, in a Wednesday appearance on ESPN’s First Take, took the moment to reignite an old debate: Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. Francesa praised Brady’s career but explained that he doesn’t believe Brady is flat-out the greatest quarterback of all time. He argued that Peyton Manning is the best regular-season quarterback to play the game thus far and that Joe Montana is the best Super Bowl quarterback to ever play.

Francesa did concede that he doesn’t have an issue with Brady being acknowledged as the GOAT because his combination of longevity, records, and Super Bowls certainly gives him a strong case. However, Francesa said that watching every regular season game, Manning was the best QB Sunday to Sunday, and Montana is the quarterback he would choose for one game with everything on the line.

https://twitter.com/firsttake/status/1620809651750113281?s=46&t=R2iQcnQrTbAjCjoZLhEo8w

Mike Francesa reignites Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady debate

This was a passionate debate that NFL viewers engaged in for several years during both players’ peaks. They had one of the league’s best rivalries, which all Colts fans have no choice but to admit was dominated by Brady and the Patriots. That’s why Indianapolis was happy to see Brady finally retire. But even with the Patriots dominating the Colts, there was still a large community of people who argued that Manning was the better individual player.

After Manning retired in 2015 and Brady went on to play seven more dominant seasons, winning Super Bowls and setting records, a lot of people conceded that Brady was better than Manning. However, as Francesa showed, accolades aside, there are plenty of people who are still willing to argue that Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady.