Ultimately, NFL legend Tom Brady got the last laugh, but it didn’t come without good-natured ribbing from a familiar foe and his celebrity friend.
On Monday, Brady’s Birmingham City — he owns a 3.3% stake — beat Wrexham to end its undefeated start in League One. Wrexham co-owners and actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds added New York Giants legend Eli Manning to its fan ranks days before the game, prompting entertaining back-and-forth and some harsh words between the two former NFL rivals.
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To the X post that introduced him, Manning wrote, “Now I can beat @TomBrady in football and fútbol! Go @Wrexham_AFC!”
(Giants fans will fondly recall that Manning and the Giants handed Brady two of his Super Bowl losses.)
But Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl winner, fought back in the best way he knows, holding a Lombardi Trophy in a video posted on X:
“So I’ve been working on a little response video to Eli and I’ve been looking around the house and I can’t find the other six of these (Lombardi trophies),” Brady said Friday. “Rob, can you just educate the Wrexham fans, just a little bit, on the history of the NFL?”
On Monday, Manning, wearing a tuxedo, brought added more celebrity firepower to the rivalry in an X video.
“Hey Tom, you made some valid points in your message and I heard them well and they hurt a little bit, so I had to bring in my ringer, Hugh (Jackman) here,” Manning said Monday via Jackman’s X account. “He’s got a few trophies of his own.”
“I do. You’re being too nice, man. Listen Tom, dude, I’m a big fan of you, but mate you’ve crossed a line. Two championships, six claws, that’s eight. Don’t start it. Come on Wrexham. … “I still love you, Tom.
Unfortunately for Manning and Wrexam, all the showmanship — even with Wolverine — didn’t do anything to improve the play on the field. Birmingham won 3-1.
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