Whenever the Colts play the Patriots, it’s one of the marquee matchups of the NFL season, and its most debated storyline involves Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, two iconic quarterbacks. Their careers and successes are inextricably linked and measured.

Peyton Manning is 33 years old and in his 12th season with three league MVPs, one Super Bowl MVP and one ring. He probably will be the all-time NFL statistical leader when he retires. Manning has never missed a game, so throw in the ironman factor as well.

Tom Brady is 32 years old and in his 10th season with one league MVP (in his undefeated 2007 regular season) and has three Super Bowl rings to accompany his two MVPs in the big game. But he’s coming off a season lost to reconstructive knee surgery and rehab.

This season, their numbers are identical: 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. This week, nearly every aspect of their rivalry has been discussed and dissected, down to Ashley Manning vs. Gisele Bundchen.  

But have you wondered what the best ever to play the position think about Brady and Manning? Not the talking heads on TV or radio. Not the columnists or bloggers. There are 20 living quarterbacks in the Professional Football Hall of Fame. We tracked them all down and asked: if you had to choose between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to quarterback your team, who would you pick and why?

The common denominator in all the responses was a groan and a chuckle. “How can you choose between Rembrandt and Van Gogh,” asked Steve Young. Every Hall of Famer agreed you couldn’t lose with either, and picking one didn’t mean you wouldn’t be happy to have the other. Everyone expressed admiration for both players and said, unequivocally, that they, too, would be wearing the yellow jacket one day in Canton. But when pressed to decide, the tally was 13½-2½, with four abstaining.

First, to the “half.” Joe Montana said he would start Brady in the first half and Manning in the second. Jim Kelly had the same idea initially, but when pushed for an answer he chose Manning by the slimmest of margins. Kelly’s reasoning: “Before this season I would’ve gone with Brady, but he’s coming back from a major injury. Tom in his prime, it gets no better.  But Peyton is used to running that quick-paced offense and is the best at running the no huddle. My old backup Frank Reich is now Peyton’s quarterback coach, and he’s told me he’d never met anyone who studies more than Peyton.”

Manning’s work ethic and level of preparation provided the swing factor for several of the Hall of Famers. They were also won over by the freedom Manning has earned to run his system.  

“Peyton has more leeway as to what he can call,” Len Dawson said. “He is as prepared, if not better prepared, than any quarterback in the league. And over the years, the Patriots’ defenses have been better than (those of) the Colts.”

Dan Fouts also chose Manning. “I like the way he operates. His relationship with (offensive coordinator) Tom Moore goes back forever. I’m impressed with the way he’s in control. What Peyton Manning has done in that style of offense has revolutionized the game, especially the way he conducts himself at the line of scrimmage,” he said.

George Blanda added, “I like Brady, but if I was starting a team I would take Peyton Manning. He's very accurate, and he really seems to love the game, plus he played in the SEC,” laughed the former quarterback and kicker from the University of Kentucky.

Warren Moon said that two years ago he might have said Brady, but now he must factor in the reconstructive knee surgery. Now he chooses Manning. “He takes the talent around him and raises their level. What he demands of himself, he demands of others. It’s scary what he would be like if HE had a Randy Moss on his team.”

Bob Griese agreed. “If you really push me over the cliff, I’d have to pick Peyton. He seems to be in such control at the line of scrimmage. Then you take away all his good players or they get hurt, change his head coach (Tony Dungy to Jim Caldwell), Marvin Harrison retires, bring in all the rookies and young players, and he makes stars of them,” he said.

Patriots vs. Colts Indianapolis 35, New England 34 Belichick stands by decision to gamble Colts’ stunning win a ‘bummer’ for Patriots   Harrison, Dungy shocked by 4th-down call   Vote: Would you have gone for it on 4th? PFT: Instant classic  |    Elated Colts PFT: Long-term ramifications for this one   Video: Belichick explains his call   Images: Brady vs. Peyton through the years

Also swayed by the way Manning elevates the performance of his teammates was Fran Tarkenton, the man whose milestones for career touchdowns and passing yards Manning recently surpassed. “I love them both, but if you put a gun to my head and said which one do you choose, I'd say Peyton. Peyton has not had the players around him that Brady has had, but Peyton is a coach on and off the field.

"They simply do one thing and that's make their teammates better,” Tarkenton continued. “They are as important as the offensive coach. Both of them will always give their team a chance to win. I just think Brady has had better teams and personnel to work with.”

Brady has one distinct advantage that makes Troy Aikman go with Manning. “Peyton’s done it with different head coaches (Jim Mora, Dungy and Caldwell), although he has had assistants Tom Moore and Howard Mudd his entire career. The greatest thing Tom has going for him is Bill Belichick — he’s able to take off a lot of the burden that quarterbacks feel in other places.”

And speaking to the importance of Belichick to Brady’s success, one Hall of Famer pointed out that last season, when Brady went down, Belichick had Matt Cassel, who hadn’t started at QB since high school, and he went 11-5.

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