50 Fun Facts About Peyton Manning

Despite a league-worst 28 interceptions, Peyton Manning set which NFL rookie record in 1998?

Passing yards. His 3,739 could not rescue a team whose defence gave up almost 28 points a game, and the Colts finished 3–13.

What nickname did Manning earn during his professional career?

The Sheriff. A TV analyst coined it in 2009, saying Manning 'lays down the law' in opponents' stadiums with the audibles he calls at the line of scrimmage.

Peyton Manning angered many fans in 1994 by choosing Tennessee over which university, where his father had starred?

Ole Miss. Both of his parents had studied there, and angry letters and phone calls poured into the family home once he announced his choice.

As of 2025, which quarterback's four NFL MVP awards trail only Manning's five?

Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers won his third and fourth in 2020 and 2021; Manning's fifth came in 2013, two seasons after surgery had cost him an entire year.

Which team did the Colts beat in Super Bowl XLI?

Chicago Bears. Devin Hester ran the opening kickoff back 92 yards for a touchdown, but Manning brought the Colts back in the rain to win 29–17 and was named the game's MVP.

Who did the Broncos beat 24-10 in Super Bowl 50, Manning's final game?

Carolina Panthers. Denver's defence won it: a fumble recovered in the end zone gave the Broncos their first touchdown, while Manning, sacked five times himself, threw for only 141 yards.

Which team beat Peyton Manning's Broncos 43–8 in a Super Bowl that began with a snap flying past him for a safety?

Seattle Seahawks. The safety came just 12 seconds in, and a Denver offence that had scored a record 606 points that season did not get on the board until the third quarter.

Manning wore No. 18 in honor of which brother, who quit football due to spinal stenosis?

Cooper. An all-state receiver who had caught Peyton's touchdown passes in high school, he had to give up the game at 18 after numbness in his hands led to the diagnosis.

What is the name of the road leading to Tennessee's Neyland Stadium that honours Peyton Manning?

Peyton Manning Pass. The pun salutes a quarterback who left as the school's career passing leader; in 2012 the road was painted to look like the stadium's field, and he came back to cut the ribbon.

Which Washington State quarterback was Manning's rival for the top pick in 1998?

Ryan Leaf. Many NFL executives preferred his stronger arm, but San Diego's No. 2 pick became the league's most notorious draft bust and was out of football by 2002.

Which Colts general manager had the final say on drafting Manning in 1998?

Bill Polian. He recalled Manning's parting promise at their meeting: draft me and we will win a championship, choose someone else and I will come back and beat you.

Who was Manning's head coach during his rookie season?

Jim Mora. His Colts went 3–13 with their rookie quarterback, then 13–3 a year later to win the franchise's first division title since 1987.

Who beat Manning for the 1997 Heisman Trophy?

Charles Woodson. The Michigan cornerback also caught passes and returned punts for a team that finished the regular season unbeaten, and voters put him well clear of Manning.

During the 2011 NFL lockout, Manning rehabbed in private with the trainers of which baseball team?

Colorado Rockies. The lockout put the Colts' own trainers off limits, so Todd Helton, the Tennessee quarterback he had replaced as a freshman, invited him to work out at Coors Field.

Whose single-season record of 48 touchdown passes did Manning break in 2004?

Dan Marino. His 48 had stood since 1984; Manning's 49th, to Brandon Stokley in the final minute, set up the tying two-point conversion, and the Colts won in overtime.

Whose single-season record of 50 touchdown passes did Manning break in 2013?

Tom Brady. He had taken the record from Manning's own 49 in 2007, so the 51st, thrown in the second-last week of the season, won it back.

Manning's 2013 single-season passing yards record beat whose mark by one yard?

Drew Brees. Manning passed his 5,476 in the first half of the season finale, throwing four touchdowns for a 31–0 lead, and then sat out the rest with the record his.

Manning threw seven touchdowns in the 2013 opener against which defending champion?

Baltimore Ravens. They had knocked Denver out of the playoffs in double overtime eight months earlier; this time Manning's seven scoring throws produced a 49–27 win.

Which Monday Night Football analyst is credited with coining Manning's nickname in 2009?

Jon Gruden. Calling a Colts game in Miami, he was describing how Manning took charge of hostile stadiums by changing plays with audibles at the line of scrimmage.

Manning's production studio is named after which trademark audible call?

Omaha. He barked the word before so many snaps in big televised games that it became famous in its own right; the company now makes the 'ManningCast' he hosts with his brother.

In 2012 Manning bought 21 Colorado franchises of which pizza chain?

Papa John's. He bought the stores two weeks before Colorado voted to legalise recreational marijuana, and sold them in 2018 just before the chain and the NFL ended their sponsorship deal.

Peyton Manning voiced a character named Guapo in which 2017 animated film?

Ferdinand. His bull Guapo swaggers with confidence but is a bundle of nerves who faints from stage fright in the ring, the opposite of the famously composed quarterback voicing him.

Whose career record did Manning pass with his 509th touchdown pass in 2014?

Brett Favre. After the record throw, Manning's receivers played keep-away with the ball before letting him have it, a stunt one of them said Manning had planned himself.

Who was Manning's head coach in his final season, 2015?

Gary Kubiak. He benched Manning in the very game in which the quarterback broke the career passing-yards record, then gave him the job back in time for the playoffs.

Which backup became Denver's starting quarterback when Manning was sidelined in 2015?

Brock Osweiler. He kept Denver on course for the AFC's top seed, then left for a $72 million contract with Houston a month after the Super Bowl win.

Surgery on which part of his body ended Manning's 208-start streak in 2011?

Neck. A spinal fusion, his third operation there in 19 months, cost him the whole season, yet two years later he was setting single-season passing records.

Which Colts receiver caught more touchdown passes from Peyton Manning than anyone else?

Marvin Harrison. The Colts drafted him with a pick they got for trading away quarterback Jeff George; two years later Manning arrived and quickly made him his main target.

Which award did Peyton Manning win in 2012, his first season with Denver?

Comeback Player of the Year. A year after surgery cost him a season and the Colts let him go, he threw 37 touchdown passes and took Denver to a 13–3 record.

At 39, Peyton Manning was 13 years older than which opposing quarterback in Super Bowl 50?

Cam Newton. The league's MVP that season, he was twice stripped of the ball by Von Miller, and both fumbles led to Denver touchdowns; Miller was named the game's MVP.

A bronze statue of Manning stands outside which venue?

Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts unveiled it in 2017, five years after releasing him, and at his own request the bronze figure wears a helmet so that his face is covered.

Which rival did Peyton Manning beat in the 2006 AFC title game, after trailing 21–3, to reach his first Super Bowl?

New England Patriots. The Colts took the lead for the first time with a touchdown one minute from the end, won 38–34, and two weeks later Manning had his first championship.

Which veteran did the Colts sign out of retirement to start the 2011 opener?

Kerry Collins. He had announced his retirement only that July, and a concussion ended his return within two months as the Colts slid to a 2–14 season.

Which Stanford quarterback did the Colts draft first overall after releasing Manning?

Andrew Luck. The Colts released Manning rather than pay him a $28 million bonus, and three seasons later Luck knocked Manning's new team out of the playoffs.

Manning attended which New Orleans high school, leading the Greenies to a 34-5 record?

Isidore Newman. He left the school as the country's top recruit, then passed over his parents' alma mater for Tennessee, to the fury of its fans.

Which former Broncos quarterback, by then running the team's football operations, signed Manning in 2012?

John Elway. He gave Manning a five-year, $96 million contract weeks after the Colts released him, and Denver won the Super Bowl in the fourth season of it.

Which team beat Manning's Colts in Super Bowl XLIV?

New Orleans Saints. Manning grew up in the city while his father was the team's quarterback, and his own late interception sealed the Saints' first title.

Who returned a Manning interception 74 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLIV?

Tracy Porter. The Colts were driving to tie a 24–17 game when he jumped the route, and his touchdown with about three minutes left put the result beyond doubt.

In a 2007 Saturday Night Live spoof, Manning pelts children with footballs for which charity?

United Way. By his own account he at first refused to film it, until the parent of one child actor told him: 'I want him to hit my kid in the face.'

Peyton Manning and his two brothers voiced themselves in a 2009 episode of which animated series?

The Simpsons. In 'O Brother, Where Bart Thou?', Bart longs for a baby brother and dreams of a park full of famous brothers, the three Mannings among them.

Which quiz show revival did Manning host in 2021, with a brother as sidekick?

It was renewed for a second season in 2022.

In 2007 a health group in Indianapolis renamed which of its facilities after Peyton Manning?

Its children's hospital. He had given the place his time and money since arriving in the city in 1998, and the hospital would not say how much he donated when it took his name.

In 2025 Manning joined the ownership group of which NWSL club?

Denver Summit FC. He bought in a year before the expansion club's first season, saying he wanted to support the growth of women's sport, and skier Mikaela Shiffrin is a fellow investor.

Which quarterback did Denver trade away in 2012, weeks after his playoff win, once it had signed Peyton Manning?

Tim Tebow. He was sent to the New York Jets the day after Manning's contract was announced, threw only eight passes there as a backup and was waived after one season.

Manning finished his college degree in three years in which subject?

Speech communication. With the degree finished by the end of his junior year, he was expected to leave as the draft's likely top pick, but he stayed for a final season anyway.

In 2003 the Colts erased a 21-point deficit in the final four minutes against which defending Super Bowl champions?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Down 35–14 after an interception return with about five minutes left, the Colts scored three touchdowns to force overtime and won 38–35 with a field goal.

Peyton Manning's 2005 Colts won their first 13 games, then lost their opening playoff game to which team?

Pittsburgh Steelers. They won 21–18 in Indianapolis when the Colts missed a field goal as time ran out, and three weeks later they were Super Bowl champions.

Who shared the 2003 AP NFL MVP award with Manning?

Steve McNair. Each received 16 votes in only the third tie in the award's history, a fitting split between two quarterbacks whose teams finished level at the top of the same division.

Which running back beat Manning to the 2005 MVP award?

Shaun Alexander. He set a league record with 28 touchdowns that season and took 19 of the 50 votes to Manning's 13, ending the quarterback's two-year hold on the award.

Whom did Peyton Manning choose to present him for the Hall of Fame in 2021?

Archie Manning. Peyton was elected in his first year of eligibility; the reporter who put his case to the selectors is said to have offered little more than his name and a mic drop.

Who coached the Colts when Manning won Super Bowl XLI?

Tony Dungy. The game pitted him against Lovie Smith, his close friend and former assistant, in the first Super Bowl between two Black head coaches.