For the first time since 1998, the NFL postseason will not feature Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes.
The 2025 NFL playoffs will be very different than those of recent years.
Since the Kansas City Chiefs failed to qualify, this season marks the first postseason without Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning since the 1998 season.
Manning made the playoffs in 1999, while Brady joined the ranks two years later. Mahomes had been to the playoffs every season since 2018, but tore his ACL in a Week 15 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers. The loss eliminated Kansas City from playoff contention, and the Chiefs finished with a 6-11 record.
The three star quarterbacks have a total of 12 Super Bowl victories. Brady is the only one of the three to have faced the other two players in the playoffs: he went 2-3 against Manning and 2-0 against Mahomes, including a victory in Super Bowl LV.
Nearly 27 years after it last happened, the NFL playoffs begin Saturday with this usual trio absent. This is what the world was like the last time Mahomes, Brady or Manning weren’t in the playoffs: January 1999.
Star quarterbacks at different stages
The aforementioned Mahomes, Brady and Manning were at completely different stages of their careers, and in the case of Mahomes, of his life. The future Chiefs quarterback was just three years old in January 1999.
Brady finished his junior year at Michigan with a victory over Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl a day before the NFL playoffs began. He threw for 209 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, capping a season with 2,427 passing yards and 14 touchdowns. He would play one more season in Ann Arbor before being selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft.
Manning concluded his rookie year with a losing record. In addition to 3,739 passing yards and 26 touchdowns, he threw 28 interceptions, the most in the league, and still the most by a rookie quarterback in a season. The Indianapolis Colts finished with a 3-13 record, but Manning would bounce back in his second year, placing third in MVP voting and earning his first Pro Bowl appearance.
In the NFL world, the Denver Broncos won their second straight Super Bowl, while Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway retired. Two future Hall of Famers won Rookie of the Year awards: Randy Moss on offense and Charles Woodson on defense. The Philadelphia Eagles finished with a 3-13 record, fired head coach Ray Rhodes and hired Andy Reid.
The NBA in the middle of a work stoppage
Surprisingly, the 1998-99 NBA season did not begin until five days after Super Bowl XXXIII, on February 5, 1999. The league suffered a work stoppage that lasted three months and reduced the schedule from 82 games to 50. It was the first time in league history that games were canceled due to labor issues.
The San Antonio Spurs ended up winning the championship after defeating the New York Knicks, starting a dynasty that resulted in five titles. Spurs center Tim Duncan won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award after averaging 27.4 points and 14 rebounds.
‘Titanic’ after a year of overwhelming success
The year 1998 had several successful films, but none reached the box office success of “Titanic.”
Released in December 1997, the film grossed more than $600 million in 1998. It remained the highest-grossing film until “Avatar” in 2009 and eventually surpassed $2 billion in total grosses.
“Titanic” received 14 nominations at the 70th Academy Awards, tying the all-time record, and won 11 of those awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It remains the only film to win 11 Oscars.
The New York Yankees on the verge of a dynastic streak
The MLB team of the late 1990s won its second World Series of the decade in 1998 and first of three in a row.
New York finished with a 114-48 record in 1998, its most wins in a season in franchise history, before going 11-2 in the postseason and sweeping the San Diego Padres to win the championship. Scott Brosius of the Yankees won the World Series Most Valuable Player award after hitting .471, the third-highest average of any player with at least 10 at-bats, while also contributing two home runs and six RBIs.
New York would win two consecutive World Series titles, and in 2000 they won their fourth title in five years. The Yankees nearly won their fourth consecutive championship, but fell to the Miami Marlins in seven games in 2001.
‘The Sopranos’, about to premiere
One of the most influential television series of all time arrived on HBO on January 10, 1999. The series, which followed the life of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, became an instant hit and the first season has a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The first season won five Golden Globes, including Best Television Series – Drama and Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama for James Gandolfini. At the Emmy Awards, he received 16 nominations and won four of them.
In total, the series received 312 nominations and 127 awards throughout its six seasons.
