Back in the 2014 season, current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady looked like he was about to enter the twilight zone of his career at age 37 with three Super Bowl titles under his belt.

His main rival in the conversation of being the best quarterback in the league at the time was Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. He was merely a year older than Brady but was trailing behind with only a single Super Bowl ring in his collection to show for.

At one point in the season, the current Buccaneers signal-caller received an email from a childhood friend that contained a link that reportedly compared the two playmakers and pertained that both of them are already on the way out of the league. In a bid to silence the talking heads, Brady replied that he will eventually gain the upper hand over Manning as his career progresses further down the road.

“Thanks … I’ve got another 7 or 8 years,” Brady wrote via Yahoo Sports. “He has 2. That’s the final chapter. Game on.”

Nine months later, the conversation was made public after it was leaked at the height of the NFL Deflategate scandal. Tom Brady and his former team in the New England Patriots found themselves in hot waters after rumors emerged that the quarterback ordered to deflate game balls ahead of their AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 season.

Looking back in hindsight, Peyton Manning was able to close out his 18-year career with another victory in Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos. Staying true to his words, Brady also managed to remain in the league seven seasons after he sent the infamous email.

Tom Brady eventually sent an apology text to Manning after the message went viral. Manning took the situation lightly and never held the message against his rival.

In the 2020 NFL season, Brady remains to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league even while playing at an advanced age of 43. His dominant play in the 2020 Playoffs truly silenced the claims that he is already ‘washed' and further proved that he still has a lot more left in the tank.

A Buccaneers win in the upcoming Super Bowl LV will finally put the debates to rest and will further cement Tom Brady as the best quarterback to ever play the game of football.