Peyton Manning

At the time, many scouts and football pundits didn’t believe he was the best quarterback in the draft. At the time, many believed Ryan Leaf of Washington State would turn out to be the better signal caller and therefore the Indianapolis Colts had made a grave mistake.

Or not.

With the first overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts selected Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning. Some loved the selection while some loathed it because they thought Ryan Leaf was going to be the superstar, while Manning would struggle with his mechanics.

What the Colts knew and what many didn’t was that Peyton Manning was the ultimate student of the game. When asked what the first thing he would buy with his rookie signing bonus, Manning responded that he wanted to purchase a high-end video system so that he could better watch game film. Leaf wanted to use his money on a new car.

Ten years later, Peyton Manning is a Super Bowl winner, a two-time league MVP and is the all-time leader in passing touchdowns and passing yards for the Indianapolis Colts. He’s also been selected to eight Pro Bowls, is a six-time All-Pro selection and has broken countless NFL records.

Ryan Leaf, on the other hand, was out of the league in five years after playing for four different teams including the San Diego Chargers (who drafted him in second overall behind Manning in the 1998 draft), Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks.

But back to Manning, he currently holds the records for consecutive seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards (6), most season with at least 4,000 pass yards (8) and most consecutive seasons with a t least 25 touchdown passes (10). He also holds the records for most games with a perfect passer rating (4), most consecutive games started to open a career by a quarterback (160) and has the highest passer rating in one season (121.1 in 2004).

He’s also still playing. Peyton Manning is already a legend to the Indianapolis Colts and given his historic career to this point, a sports legend as well. He might go down as the best quarterback to ever played the game.

So much for those who said Ryan Leaf would be better.