Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib made the NFL Network’s list of the 100 Top Players of 2014. Talib landed at No. 79 on the annual player power rankings, and he recently joined NFL Network to discuss his place on the list and a variety of other topics. Naturally, he was asked for his thoughts on the Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning debate.
“You gotta go Peyton Manning,” Talib said, as transcribed by Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com. “Tom is a good friend of mine, what’s up Tom, baby. (Manning) had an awesome year. He tore it up. He like set the record for touchdowns. He beat Tom in the AFC Championship. You gotta give it to Peyton. Tom know that’s my dog man, he know.”
What else can he say? Talib and Manning are teammates now, and Manning is coming off the best season of his career. In reality, Brady and Manning are 1A and 1B at the moment. Manning lights up the stat board and has most of the records, but the blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl stings badly. His playoff record of 11-12 hurts his legacy.
While Talib said he is friends with Brady, he did not seem to be all that fond of Bill Belichick.
“Bill sure didn’t want to give me that money so hey man, he gave it to Revis,” Talib said when asked about his contract. “It is what it is.”
Most feel that Revis is a better cornerback than Talib, and Talib himself even agreed. The Patriots invested more money over a shorter deal for Revis, so in a way there is less risk involved. Plus, Talib has a history of off-field issues and Revis does not.
Bottom line — Talib has jumped right into the rivalry. The Broncos and Patriots could very well meet again in the AFC Championship next year. Talib’s former team is now public enemy No. 1.
