Although he was expected to be the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick in 1997, Peyton Manning announced on national television that he would play his senior season as the Vols quarterback. The Vols won the Southeastern Conference Championship that year and earned the No. 3 ranking in the country, but lost to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Manning, the runner up for the Heisman Trophy, was also a consensus first-team All-American and winner of the Maxwell Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, the Johnny Unitas Award, and the Best College Player ESPY Award. He was also a three-time academic All-American at UT and distinguished alumnus from the College of Communication and Information. During his NFL career, Manning won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts and another as quarterback of the Denver Broncos. Each year a group of students is named Manning Scholars, the winners of competitive scholarships Manning endowed beginning in 1998.