NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Training Camp
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

With Peyton Manning well into retirement and Tom Brady now throwing passes in Tampa, the Patriots-Colts rivalry of the 2000s feels like it occurred a million years ago. Still, Brady seems to like throwing shade in the direction of Indianapolis even after all these years. Friday saw Brady's Buccaneers hold a scrimmage at Raymond James Stadium where they simulated some game situations, including pumping in crowd noise. This is something the NFL will seemingly have during the regular season without fans attending a large majority of games due to the pandemic.   

When asked about that added wrinkle, Brady couldn't help but throw a dig towards Bucs quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen, who was a longtime assistant for the Colts. In years past, Indy had been accused of pumping in crowd noise at the RCA Dome, the franchise's home from 1984-2008 before the club moved into Lucas Oil Stadium.   

"I thought it was one of the Colts' old tapes when they used to pump all that sound into the RCA Dome," Brady said of the crowd noise during Tampa Bay's practice. "I was telling coach Clyde that the must have pulled that out of his basement for today's practice. We had a great time with it. 

"It's something to get used to. It definitely has its challenges. If that's how loud it's going to be that's going to be tough for everybody. The communication's tough and you don't have a down moment. You're screaming the whole day to people on the sideline, which is very unique to a game because normally it ebbs and flows. But with that pumped in crowd noise it doesn't ebb and flow -- it just flows. We're going to have to get used to that. I'm going to have to draw on my earlier days. ...That was a joke everybody. Just want to make that clear."

The alleged pumped-in crowd noise was also a brief topic of discussion between Brady and Manning earlier this year on the former Colts and Broncos quarterback's show "Peyton's Places." Manning playfully denied the rumor, while Brady smiled back at him saying he was "full of [expletive]."

Given the history of Brady's Patriots crossing the line a time or two during his tenure, meanwhile, it's safe to assume that Christensen had plenty of ammo to send a zinger right back at the six-time Super Bowl champion if he wanted to. Now, however, they are both on the same side and looking to make Tampa Bay a serious title contender in 2020, so they'll need all the reps they can -- with and without pumped-in crowd noise.