Peyton Manning Wanted to Sneak Tom Brady ‘Soft Burn’ into ‘SNL’ Monologue, Seth Meyers Recalls

Peyton Manning was feeling pretty good about himself in March 2007. A month removed from winning Super Bowl XLI with the Indianapolis Colts, the Hall of Famer was preparing to host an episode of Saturday Night Live.

That Super Bowl was Manning’s first championship, while Tom Brady of the New England Patriots had three wins at the time. The rivalry between the two quarterbacks helped define pro football in that era, and as a competitor, Manning, now 48, wanted to rub his recent win in Brady’s face.

Speaking on his “The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast,” Seth Meyers recalled Manning wanting to add a Brady joke into his monologue at the last minute. Meyers was on the SNL cast from 2001 to 2014 and became head writer in 2006.

​​"So, Jenna, the stage manager, was like, 'Peyton wants to talk to you backstage before the monologue,'" he said during the episode released on August 5. "I went backstage and Peyton had a suggestion, he had a joke he wanted to add at the last minute about Tom Brady."

Football Players Who Have Brothers That Also Play in the NFL: The Kelces, The Mannings and More

"He was like, 'Do you think I should do this? I was like, 'Oh, I don't know,'” he continued. “It was really, I was like, 'I don't process ideas this fast!'"

Manning ultimately did not go through with the joke, but still mentioned Brady, now 47, in a self-deprecating quip about what the Patriots quarterback has in common with a circus (they both have more rings than Manning).

As for the joke at Brady’s expense, Meyers couldn’t remember exactly what it was, but he tried to downplay it as a “soft burn.”

“That would have been the 200th-hottest burn at the Brady roast,” Meyers said, referring to Netflix’s “Roast of Tom Brady” released on May 5. “Whatever it was, my memory is that it seems very quaint now."

Eli Manning and Peyton Manning’s Rare Photos With Their Kids Over the Years: Family Album

Manning appeared on the roast, finally getting a few jabs in, mocking Brady’s “fake hair,” multiple retirements and Super Bowl losses.

Manning had a few more burns up his sleeve for the roast. Talking about their mutual love for golf, Manning said, “We’re both pretty good players. My handicap is a 6.4, while Tom’s handicap is blowing leads in the Super Bowl to my brother, Eli.” (Eli Manning and the New York Giants beat Brady’s Patriots twice in the Super Bowl.)

Not to be outdone, Brady fired back when he took the dais, saying to Peyton, “Sometimes you live in Denver, sometimes you live in Louisiana, but you'll always live in my shadow."