Former Vol legend Peyton Manning has just about all the accolades you can imagine. Multiple NFL MVP awards, two Super Bowl rings, and a multitude of records at both the collegiate and professional level.
Now you can add “hall of famer” to that list.
Peyton Manning has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class. He joins Steve Spurrier (only the fourth ever to be inducted as both a player and coach, Marshall Faulk, Kirk Gibson, Brian Urlacher, Bob Crable, Matt Leinart, Bob McKay, Dat Nguyen, Adrian Peterson, Mike Ruth, coach Danny Ford, and coach Larry Kehres as part of the 2017 class of inductees.
Manning retired from the NFL after the 2015 season, and he went out on top with a Super Bowl victory with the Denver Broncos. But this hall of fame is about Manning’s performance while at the University of Tennessee, and he put together quite a career there too.
When Manning completed his four years as quarterback of the Vols after the 1997 season, he held 42 NCAA, SEC, and UT records. Manning had a 39-6 career record at Tennessee while completing 62.5 percent of his 1,381 pass attempts for 11,201 yards, 89 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions. Manning finished with 101 career scores at Tennessee.
Manning also (notoriously among Vol fans) finished runner-up in the 1997 Heisman race to Michigan’s Charles Woodson. Manning did, however, win the 1997 SEC Player of the Year and won the Davey O’Brien Award (nation’s best quarterback) in 1997 as well.
Peyton Manning will be the 23rd Vol to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He joins Bobby Dodd and George Cafego as other Tennessee quarterbacks to earn the distinction.
