Considered one of the best quarterbacks in college football history, Peyton Manning's drive for excellence has transcended all aspects of his life.

Despite a demanding football schedule, Manning kept his personal priorities straight, compiling a 3.61 GPA in speech communications. He graduated cum laude and first in his major with Phi Beta Kappa honors after only three years. He continued graduate work in sports management, becoming a two-time member of the AFCA Good Works Team and a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. He claimed an NCAA Today's Top Eight and an NCAA postgraduate scholarship his senior year.

He earned consensus First Team All-America and First Team Academic All-America honors in 1997, and he finished his memorable career holding 42 NCAA, SEC and Tennessee records, becoming the SEC's all-time leading passer with 11,201 yards. The team captain his senior year, he tallied a career 39-6 record (.867) as a starter while leading the Vols to four consecutive bowl games and the 1997 SEC Title.

His gaudy list of collegiate honors includes the Maxwell Award, the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, SEC Player of the Year and the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete across all sports. In 2005, Tennessee retired his No. 16.

The first overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Manning established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, playing for the Indianapolis Colts for 12 seasons and currently with the Denver Broncos since the start of the 2012 season. He earned NFL MVP honors in 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2013 becoming the only player in NFL history to be named MVP five times. Peyton has been selected to 13 Pro Bowls and has been named to the Associated Press NFL All-Pro First Team seven times. He threw an NFL-record 55 touchdown passes in 2013, earned MVP honors in the Colts’ Super Bowl victory following the 2006 season and received the 2005 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. He earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors after his first season with the Broncos in 2012, and he has continued to lead the franchise to the upper echelons of the NFL, reaching Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.

Click here for a photo album of Manning.

Click here to hear Manning's acceptance speech of the 1997 Campbell Trophy at the 40th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Click here to see Manning talk about his time as a Volunteer and what the University of Tennessee means to him.