Cook: After Peyton, go shake hands with this guy

In two weeks, Peyton Manning comes to Athens, Tenn., to speak at the 9th annual Chamber of Commerce Benefit Dinner. (Last year, it was Herschel Walker. The year before, Nick Saban.)

For Peyton, more than 3,200 tickets have been sold, with only a few hundred left. People are coming from 13 different states, 128 different cities. One woman in California bought tickets for her mom, who lives in Maryville. She’s 90, and blind. Every Sunday in the fall, she’ll nap, then wake up, pull the TV close, and listen to the Broncos game.

“All she wants to do is be in the same room with Peyton and listen to him talk,” said Rob Preston, Athens Chamber president.

Rob Preston runs in a marathon in Vermont.

David Cook

Man, what an athlete. What accomplishments. What a story.