NASHVILLE - Peyton Manning, the former NFL quarterback with two Super Bowl titles and a league-record five MVP awards among the string of honors to his credit, considers his decision to attend the University of Tennessee one of the best choices he ever made.
That made being inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday night along with a handful of fellow Volunteers and David Cutcliffe, his former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in Knoxville, even more memorable.
"It's very special," Manning said. "I was proud to have played at the University of Tennessee for four years, and you go into the NFL, you kind of carry your alma mater with you and have wonderful support from friends, teammates, coaches throughout my career. So to be honored and have a chance to reflect on my time in college and all the relationships and memories, it's been very special."
Manning, 43, was inducted along with a group that included Cutcliffe, now the head coach at Duke; Kara Lawson, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in women's basketball who played for Lady Vols legend Pat Summitt and is now a TV analyst; Charles Davis, a four-year starter at safety for the Vols and now an in-game analyst for Fox; and Kippy Brown, who had three stints as UT's wide receivers coach and also worked for seven NFL teams.
Honored posthumously was Kim Valek, the Sewanee women's basketball program's all-time leader in points and rebounds who is the school's first female athlete inducted into the state hall.
Manning was born in New Orleans, where his father Archie played for the Saints, and he was inducted into Louisiana's sports hall of fame earlier this year. Manning not only chose to attend Tennessee rather than Ole Miss, his father's alma mater, he endeared himself to Vols fans by returning for his senior season in 1997.
Manning continued his relationship with Cutcliffe even during an NFL career in which he was a 14-time Pro Bowl pick and the first starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl for two franchises - the Indianapolis Colts in the 2006 season and the Denver Broncos nine years later.
"I would go back and work out with him in the offseason, and he would stay on top of my mechanics and fundamentals and of course a great friend throughout that process as well, so very special to be inducted in the same class as Coach Cut," Manning said.
Cutcliffe called Manning one of the special people in his life.
"How lucky can you be to get to basically coach Peyton for 22 years?" Cutcliffe said. "That's good enough there. I could've retired right then. It's just been fun. I think the thing that's most rewarding is that Peyton is such a dedicated individual when it comes to his trade.
"If you're going to work with him, you better get better. And Peyton Manning made me better."
Patrick Willis, another of Saturday's inductees, may not have played at Tennessee - but he got to try to tackle Manning in the NFL. The former Ole Miss and San Francisco 49ers linebacker said he was grateful to be honored as part of what he called an amazing class.
"He's a genius on the field and off the field," said Willis, a native of Bruceton. "Obviously, on the field he's a general, and yeah, it's an honor to have played against him and to be going into the Hall of Fame with him."
Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk was honored as the hall's 2019 Tennessean of the Year, a big honor for someone who had fans questioning her commitment to Nashville and the state when she took charge of the NFL team in March 2015. Strunk helped Music City host the NFL draft in April, an event that drew a record 600,000 fans.
Strunk said she hope she has answered any questions about herself after what's been a whirlwind four years. Posing for photos alongside Manning, whom her late father tried to sign in 2012, left her a little bit in awe.
"I'm happy to be part of the group," she said.