Peyton Manning Once Tried to Get Ty Law Drunk for Tips on the Patriots Defense

Peyton Manning and Ty Law certainly have a history with one another, a history that apparently includes the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback looking for any edge he could find to beat the rival New England Patriots.

Peyton Manning’s history with the Patriots

It’s easy to forget that the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots were once both in the AFC East before the league realigned in 2002. In 2001, the rivalry heated up when Tom Brady took over as the Pats’ starting quarterback. Brady’s first-ever start was actually against Manning and the Colts in Foxborough on September 30, 2001. New England decimated Indianapolis, 44-13, and did so again two weeks later, 38-17.

When the Patriots became the Patriots that everyone has become accustomed to, it took quite a while for Manning to figure out how to beat them. Following those two losses in 2001, the next meeting between the two teams came in November 2003, with the Patriots again coming out on top, 38-34. A few months later, they met in the AFC Championship Game, and New England won that one as well, 24-14, on their way to a Super Bowl championship.

The Colts and Patriots met on opening day the following season, with the Patriots once again winning by a score of 24-14. In the postseason, New England beat Indy in the divisional round, 20-3, on the way to a third Super Bowl title in four years. Manning would finally beat the Pats the following season and won the next three matchups, including the AFC Championship following the 2006 season on the way to his first Super Bowl win. But it should be noted that Ty Law wasn’t on the New England roster anymore. Manning would have more success with the Broncos than he did with the Colts, twice beating the Patriots in the AFC Championship while with Denver.

Ty Law loved playing against Peyton Manning

Defensive back Ty Law was a member of the New England Patriots, who drafted him out of the University of Michigan in 1995, for a decade and won three Super Bowls. And the Hall of Famer certainly didn’t mind playing against Peyton Manning.

Ty Law intercepted Peyton Manning nine times in his career, including five times in the postseason. Law was clutch in big-game situations throughout his career and famously picked off Manning three times in the AFC Championship Game in January 2004. While so many other defensive backs feared Manning, especially in his prime, Law was up for the challenge and delivered. There was once even a Facebook group out there called “Peyton Manning’s All-Time Favorite Receiver: Ty Law,” which is simply hilarious.

But there’s now a story out there that’s even more hilarious than that.

Manning tried to get Law drunk for tips on the New England defense

In an interview on the WEEI Sports Radio Network, Ty Law said that Peyton Manning would do anything for information on how defenses planned for him. Manning was always looking for an edge, especially when it came to New England, and he once tried to get Law drunk when both were at the Pro Bowl to get a few tips on the Pats’ defensive strategies.

“Peyton would try and get to you. Once you get over to the Pro Bowl you’re on the same team and Peyton would try and get you drunk and then try and dig into your brain. ‘What did you see? What did you do?’ It’s on me because he’d feed you all these mai tais. He wanted to keep feeding you all those to butter you up and ask you what you see and this and that.

“I was like, ‘Peyton, I ain’t falling for that (expletive). I told him right there.”

As Peyton Manning found out on many occasions, it’s tough getting things past Ty Law.