Tom Brady defends Arch Manning against criticism amid struggles in first year as starting QB

During his two-decade career in the NFL, Tom Brady had no bigger foils than Eli and Peyton Manning. In fact, Brady’s friendly on-field rivalry with the Manning brothers became something of legend as he regularly battled both en route to winning his NFL-record seven Super Bowls.

Given that history, and the true off-field friendship that developed between the three sure-fire NFL Hall of Famers, it’s no surprise Brady has come to the defense of the latest Manning scion — Texas quarterback Arch Manning, Eli and Peyton’s much-maligned newphew.

After entering the season with overwhelming hype — including Vegas oddsmakers crowning him as the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite before his first start — Arch Manning has faced intense scrutiny amid early-season struggles in his first season as the Longhorns’ starting QB. Those struggles have even led some Texas fans to boo the grandson of New Orleans Saints legend Archie Manning.

It’s that sort of reaction that led Brady to call out the impact of the modern-age 24-7 media landscape.

“It’s just a very interesting media environment with the negativity associated with people,” Brady told Sports Illustrated earlier this week. “And I’d love to see some of these young players not have their confidence broken, you know, because they’re not their uncle … as a 17- or 18-year-old kid.

“Before, (players) had the kind of ability to fail when people weren’t watching, to build that resiliency within themselves. So I think it’s a real challenge these days for these young kids because Arch Manning, you know, seems like a great kid and great player.”

Brady cited up his own roller-coaster college career at Michigan, where he backed up Brian Griese for two years before finally earning an opportunity to start his junior and senior years in 1998-99 — much like Arch Manning sitting behind Quinn Ewers the past two seasons. Still, Brady’s time in Ann Arbor was hardly much to write home about, so much so that he infamously fell to the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, where the New England Patriots selected him with the 199th overall pick.

It’s because of that experience that Brady — in his second year as FOX Sports’ lead NFL color commentator — asked fans and media alike to simply grant the youngest Manning a little grace.

“Peyton had a lot of years to develop. Eli had a lot of years to develop and, you know, I was a college kid once, too, and I wasn’t the best quarterback at that time,” Brady continued. “And how people remember me after my pro career was a lot different than I remember me after my college career, which is a lot different than me how they remember me after my high school year. So give people a chance to learn and grow and develop and put them in the right situation.”