Why LaDainian Tomlinson Would’ve Rather Played With Tom Brady Than Peyton Manning

LaDainian Tomlinson played in the thick of arguably the greatest quarterback rivalry in NFL history.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning battled it out for AFC supremacy for over a decade. The future Hall of Fame quarterbacks squared off a total of 17 times between 2001 and 2016, with Brady earning wins in 11 of the head-to-head contests.

On the heels of Brady and Manning renewing their rivalry over the weekend in The Match, the “NFL Total Access” crew of Michael Robinson, DeAngelo Hall and LaDainian Tomlinson debated which star signal-caller they would have liked to play with. For Tomlinson, it sure sounded like a no-brainer.

“Man, considering I don’t have a Super Bowl ring, I want the guy who’s got the most rings. You know, Tom Brady got six rings, man,” Tomlinson said Tuesday on NFL Network. “I’m just thinking, I played 11 years. I’m thinking out of one of those 11 years I’ma get me a Super Bowl ring with Tom Brady. He got six. The other thing, I just got to think selfishly. I’m a running back. I ain’t getting the ball with Peyton Manning. He’s gonna be at the line of scrimmage, he’s gonna be checking. You know, checking to pass plays, getting out of run plays. I know with Tom Brady I’m going to have a balanced offense. I’m still gonna get my totes. The other thing, Tom Brady likes to throw it to the running back. So I’m gonna eat with Tom Brady.”

Ironically enough, Brady probably can take some ownership in the fact that LT doesn’t have “Super Bowl champion” on his résumé. The Patriots twice knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs over the course of Tomlinson’s nine-year run in San Diego, including in the 2007 AFC Championship Game.

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