Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady.
We’re not just talking about substance here, we’re also talking about style and image.
By the numbers, the Manning vs. Brady argument is pretty easy to quantify. In 2013, Manning had statistically the greatest season by a quarterback in NFL history with 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdown passes. Manning’s supporters point to his four MVP awards (vs. Brady’s two), his 491 career touchdown passes (vs. Brady’s 359) and his 64,964 passing yards (vs. Brady’s 49,149).
Brady’s bunch points to his three Super Bowl wins (vs. Manning’s one), his 18-7 postseason record (vs. Manning’s 10-11), his 10-4 record against Manning and the fact he’s never had a losing season.
Image is a tougher nut to crack.
One would think that Brady’s chiseled face and Hollywood jaw would make him the coveted QB of the fairer sex. But my wife, Nancy, says that’s simply not the case. Then again, she thinks Lyle Lovett is hot and she married me, so …
Anyway, I asked Nancy, a true football fan, why she preferred Manning to Brady. She enthusiastically rattled off her list of reasons.
“Peyton shows so much heart, drive and passion,” she exclaimed. “Brady is so much glitz, so much ‘Gi-Zell!’ “
She was referring, of course, to Brady’s supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen.
Nancy wasn’t finished.
“On the field, Peyton is so fiery, so intense,” she said. “But off the field he has that great self-deprecation sense of humor. He lets his personality show through. He comes across like the working-class man. I know he’s really not, he’s the son of Archie Manning and he makes millions, but that’s how he comes across.”
Brady? Boston Back Bay all the way.
“Brady has no personality off the field,” my wife said. “He’s just this celebrity.” (She pronounced it see-leb-ra-tay.)
How Nancy knows all this, I’m not sure. But I think she’s on to something when it comes to the quarterbacks’ public persona.
As a recent Time magazine article notes, the way Brady and Manning are portrayed in commercials and endorsements — and their associations with brands and products — are radically different.
Manning pitches pizza for Papa John’s and sells middle-America brands such as Buick, DirecTV, Oreos and MasterCard.
Brady’s brands are glitzy and trendy — Movado watches, Glaceau Smartwater and Ugg boots.
In a recent Boston Herald story about the differences of the two quarterbacks’ endorsement deals, Steve Connelly of the Boston ad agency Connelly Partners explained that the two have very carefully crafted their images and chosen their endorsement partners.
“Manning uses marketing to enhance his likability, whereas Brady does not,” Connelly explained. “The Tom Brady brand is more aspirational and very influenced, I think, by his wife.”
Another marketing expert described Manning’s image very much the way Nancy did.
“Manning is a bit closer to everyman; Brady is a little bit outside Everyman because of his looks and because of his relationship with his wife,” said Chris Colbert, chairman of Holland-Mark, a Boston advertising and marketing firm.
When it comes to selling the image, Manning is beating Brady. Last year, Manning had the most endorsements of any football player — worth $12 million to Brady’s $7 million — according to Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes. Both made the top 20.
As for Nancy, a Minnesota native, she’ll be watching Sunday’s game wearing her orange No. 18 jersey and cheering on Manning. And no, she’s never, ever wanted a pair of Uggs.
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp
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