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MOtorboat
01-16-2014, 01:16 PM
A twisted look at the great QB rivalry
What if the career itineraries of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were reversed?

By Greg Garber

Ozzie Newsome joined the Baltimore Ravens' front office in 1996, the team's inaugural season, two years before the Colts drafted Peyton Manning and four seasons ahead of Tom Brady's arrival in New England. Newsome helped guide the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory after the 2000 season, then Brady took the Patriots to three titles in four years. As the general manager of the presiding Super Bowl champions, Newsome has only two more weeks to savor last year's win over the 49ers before another team -- quite possibly led by Manning or Brady -- ends the Ravens' reign.

Late last week, after a series of grinding personnel meetings, Newsome pondered this deliciously hypothetical question: How would NFL history have been different if Manning had gone to the Patriots and Brady had worn a Colts jersey before a rebirth in Denver?

"Oh, man," said Newsome, laughing in his Maryland office. "Let me think about that."

He paused, then started running through the scenarios: Manning paired with Bill Belichick's defense; Brady teamed with executive Bill Polian and coach Tony Dungy. Manning to Randy Moss and Rob Gronkowski; Brady to Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. Wes Welker, of course, accepting passes from both, just in a different order.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/10300335/what-peyton-manning-tom-brady-had-traded-places