CANTON, Ohio — The most decorated player in Tennessee football history will be forever enshrined in Canton, Ohio, Sunday night as he adds the sport’s most illustrious individual honor to his list of accolades. Five-time NFL Most Valuable Player and two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning takes his place among the game’s all-time greats as a member of the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class.
Manning becomes the third Volunteer all-time to earn to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining defensive linemen Reggie White (2006) and Doug Atkins (1982). All three Tennessee legends are also members of the College Football Hall of Fame.
The 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. and will be televised on ESPN and NFL Network. Festivities began earlier this week as Manning and his fellow inductees were honored at the annual Hall of Fame Game on Thursday before being presented with their gold jackets on Friday.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Manning established himself as one of the greatest players in NFL history, playing for the Indianapolis Colts for 13 seasons and the Denver Broncos for four. He remains the only player in NFL annals to win MVP honors five times and is tied for the most Pro Bowl selections with 14. In addition, he was a seven-time first-team All-Pro selection, Super Bowl XLI MVP, 2015 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, 2012 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, 2013 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, a member of the 2000s NFL All-Decade Team and one of the 10 quarterbacks selected for the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Manning is one of two quarterbacks in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with multiple franchises. Statistically, he still holds the NFL record for 4,000-yard passing seasons (14), single-season passing yards (5,477 in 2013) and single-season touchdown passes (55 in 2013).
A 1997 consensus First-Team All-American, Manning guided Tennessee to four consecutive bowl games, three straight top 10 national rankings and the 1997 Southeastern Conference championship as he captured MVP honors. The 1997 Heisman Trophy runner-up, he claimed the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Sullivan Award, Campbell Trophy and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award during his senior campaign.
Manning holds school records for wins by a starting quarterback (39), passing yards (11,201), touchdown passes (89), total touchdowns (101, 89 passing/12 rushing), passing attempts (1,381), completions (863), completion percentage (62.5) and career 300-yard games (18).
A three-time Academic All-American, Manning earned his degree from UT in speech communication in 1997. He was the top graduate in his major. In 2018, he was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
Manning was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017, the University of Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 and the state of Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. Each year, a group of UT students is named Manning Scholars, the winners of competitive scholarships Manning endowed beginning in 1998.
-UT Athletics
