Peyton Manningis waiting to hear fromTom Bradyon his next move.
On Monday, Manning appeared onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonand weighed in on reports that Brady, 44, isallegedly retiringafter 22 seasons in the NFL. On Saturday,The Boston GlobeandESPNcited sources who said that the star Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback would soon hang up his helmet for good.
Manning, who announced his own retirement in 2016, told Fallon, 47, “That’s kind of the process that I went through when I retired. Jimmy, in 2011, when I got injured with the Colts, there were a lot of rumors whether I was going to come back for play or not.”
Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
He recalled, “Rob Lowetweeted out that he knew firsthand that I was about to retire. And I had to call a press conference to actually say, you know, I always thought I would announce my retirement, not the guy that played Sodapop Curtis inThe Outsiders!”
Amid the media attention, Manning said he and Brady have now been through similar situations.
“I feel like Tom is in that same boat a little bit, like I think he’ll make the announcement at the appropriate time,” he said. “It might be tomorrow, it might be in April — might not be ‘til three years from now, he’s playing so well.”
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Manning added, “So I don’t imagine Tom is too happy with the news this weekend, but I think he will announce it whenever, at the appropriate time, on his own terms, as he should.”
Bradyaddressedretirement rumors on Monday’s episode of his Sirius XM podcast,Let’s Go!. The seven-time Super Bowl champ told listeners, “It was a good week for me and I’m just still going through theprocess that I said I was going through.”
He added, “Sometimes it takes some time to really evaluate how you feel and what you want to do and I think when the time is right I’ll be ready to make a decision one way or another just like I said last week.”
The former New England Patriots player said he plans to “evaluate things as they come” and will try to “make a great decision for me and my family.” Still, he told listeners that the reports of his retirement distracted from last weekend’s AFC and NFC championships.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“There was some very important games going on on the weekend and I know how hard those players work on Sunday to prepare for that,” Brady said. “I was trying to enjoy a nice weekend. It didn’t quite turn that way because my phone got really busy. But, you know, that’s just part of being in the situation I’m in.”
While he declined to give a clear timeline for his retirement, he insisted, “I know when the time is right.”
source: people.com
