Peyton Manning is in attendance for Tennessee baseball’s College World Series opener against Florida State, ESPN showed during the first inning of the broadcast.
He was also on the video board doing an interview with a NCAA personality in the middle of the second inning.
There is A LOT of money sitting in those two seats between Peyton & Pratt pic.twitter.com/RNEiCXObjd
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) June 14, 2024
Manning returns to the city he brought some notoriety too during his playing day due to his semi famous “Omaha” audible call. The Hall of Fame quarterback has become synonymous with the city and named his production company “Omaha Productions.”
Great to have Peyton here in Omaha to cheer on @Vol_Baseball! No other university has an ambassador like Peyton. Grateful for his passion and love for @UTKnoxville! 🍊#GBO #EverythingSchool pic.twitter.com/Y4Oo0UeZ9s
— Donde Plowman (@DondePlowman) June 15, 2024
More From RTI: Live Updates Of Tennessee Baseball’s Matchup Against Florida State
The former Tennessee quarterback has been a constant and prominent supporter of his alma mater. That’s included the baseball program as he’s formed a friendship with head coach Tony Vitello. He’s been at a number of games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium including in 2021 when he threw out the first pitch for the Arkansas series.
Manning has made the trip to Omaha all three times that Vitello’s program has. He was at the Texas game in 2021 and the opener against LSU last season. Tennessee is 0-2 in those matchups and is looking to breaking through with a win tonight.
The “Manning Curse” was a popular theory amongst Tennessee fans for years but has died down in recent years thanks in large part to the football team’s win over Alabama in 2022 wth Manning in attendance.