Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise.

Peyton Manning is the son of New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning and the older brother of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. Peyton played college football for the University of Tennessee, where he was selected by the Indianapolis Colts as the first overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft.

Manning has started every game in his NFL career and has missed only one snap due to injury. He has missed many other snaps due to large leads.

Peyton Manning was the NFL co-MVP. He shared the honor with Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair. After many football insiders criticized Manning for being 0-3 in the playoffs, he won his first NFL playoff game against the Denver Broncos on January 4, 2004. Manning's in the Colts' playoff games against the Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs was a perfect 158.3. However, he had a difficult AFC championship game against the New England Patriots, throwing four interceptions in a 24-14 loss.

In 2004, Manning became the highest-paid player in NFL history at the time, signing a $99.2m contract for seven years with a $34.5m signing bonus, which averages out to $14.17m annually. Under the contract, Manning is also eligible to earn an extra $19m in incentives.

The following season Manning had a spectacular campaign and broke several major NFL records. These include:

• Most touchdown passes in a single season, 49 (previously held by Dan Marino with 48 in 1984)
• Passer-rating in a single season, 121.1 (previously held by Steve Young with 112.8 in 1994)
• Four touchdowns or more in five consecutive games
• Five touchdown passes in four different games in less than twelve months (previously held by Marino)

In addition to his individual achievements, Manning also led the Colts to a 12-4 record and their second consecutive AFC South division title. As a result, he was a near-unanimous selection for the 2004 Associated Press NFL MVP, was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Pro Bowl MVP. It should be noted however that Manning once again had a terrible game not even scoring a touchdown to end the season, once again against the New England Patriots. These consecutive losses have led many to question his leadership and ability to win big games.

Manning, with wide receiver Marvin Harrison, has the record for QB/WR completions in the history of the NFL. They topped the tandem of Jim Kelly and Andre Reed at 664 completions in 2004.

External links

• Official web site