Brady Letting the Mannings Dump on His Relationship Jimmy Garoppolo Without Comment Speaks Volumes
It's pretty obvious seven weeks into ESPN 2's Manningcast experiment that it's a massive success. There are few things all Americans can agree on, but we have come together on the idea of the Manning brothers grabassing with a third guest while watching Monday Night Football is preferable to simply watching MNF. And vastly superior to whatever else The Deuce would be counterprogramming football with. Archery or curling or whatever. It's the natural extension of the way in which we've all gotten accustomed to communicate over the last two years. And if the other pro sports can find two similar personalities to make the commitment like this, it'll become commonplace.
Last night's show, with Marshawn Lynch three Hennessey's into his night as the opening act, Tom Brady being the natural, comfortable composed middler and Sue Bird closing it out was no exception. But not to be lost in a buzzed Lynch dropping F-bombs and Brady detailing the negotiations for his 600th touchdown throw, was this awkward and quite revealing exchange.
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I can't embed the YouTube without getting my door kicked in by Reichsführer Goodell's Copyright SS, but this is the moment they were talking about:
SF Gate - Specifically, the younger Manning inquired about Brady’s apparent snub of his then-backup Jimmy G, who Brady denied a hug, hand-pound, high-five, really anything in what can only be described as an awkward, dismissive shrug-off.
“I wanna talk about how you had Jimmy G right there and you completely ignored him,” Eli jokingly said. “[You] said, ‘I’m not gonna give you a high-five.’ And just nothing. ‘Nope, you get nothing’.” ...
“Very telling. Very telling there,” Peyton Manning interjected, as ESPN2 rolled tape of Brady’s hug dodge.
For his part, Brady gracefully dodged the question, pivoting instead to a joke about how spry he looked happily jumping up and down after his defense helped him win his fourth championship ring.
“I think that vertical jump, that was impressive for me,” Brady said. “I had fourteen inches or something like that.”
“I didn’t see him, sorry, Jimmy,” Brady added, before attempting to segue the live conversation into territory more befitting a couple of all-time greats.
The part of that last quote that was left unsaid but was most definitely implied? "... not sorry." Brady had ample opportunity to set the record straight. To tell the Mannings "Are you kidding me? I was so excited in that moment I didn't know where I was or who I was with! Jimmy and I shared a long, emotional embrace afterwards in the locker room. But in that moment? My whole life flashed in front of my eyes and I can not be held accountable for my actions." Instead, he went for an extra scoop of passive on top of that passive/aggressive sundae Eli and Peyton served up.
The apology was just that insincere thing you throw in you don't really mean because you think you have to. Like when your friend is talking about how his girlfriend you can't stand is being a bitch and you agree, but you agree so much that you have to walk it back. If you really like the person being talked about, you'd stick up for them. And when it comes to Jimmy G and Brady, that does not appear to be the case.
The thing is, Pats fans have always watched that clip and thought exactly what the Manning brothers said. That Brady left Rookie Garoppolo hanging and went to hug literally everyone else he could lay arms on. Jimmy G was like that puppy the old dog wants nothing to do with. The body language in that clip and some other shots of the sidelines that appeared in the DVDs literally every Patriots fan collected at the time confirmed it. It's very possible Brady warmed up to his intended replacement over time. And we know, for instance, that Garoppolo had full use of TB12 Fitness. But at the end of the 2014 season? At 37 years of age and 10 years removed from his last championship, the GOAT was not feeling it with the presumptive heir to his throne. His reaction to this line of inquiry proves it.
Now for the love of all that is holy, let's get Brady on there every week. Even though it means having to listen to Eli gloat about the Super Bowl That Shall Not Be Named I & II, it's still worth it.