Tom Brady apologized to Peyton Manning for questioning in an email how long his rival can continue playing.

In an email, released in documents that were filed as part of the NFL Players Association's lawsuit on behalf of Brady against the NFL, Brady wrote:

"I've got another 7 or 8 years. He has 2. That's the final chapter."

"Game on."

Manning addressed the emails for the first time on Wednesday, after Broncos practice.

"Everybody has been speculating on that for a long time, so I guess he's joining the list of trying to predict,'' Manning said. "Hey, Tom sent me an apology text that was unnecessary. The fact his emails got revealed, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.''

In another email, a friend of Brady's wrote: "Manning needs things to be perfect to succeed, weather, his system, etc.'' Brady's response to the email was that "we are some hard working grinders beav. That's what our team is all about. Our best is still ahead of us.''