27 years ago, one of the most historic NFL Drafts took place, with numerous legends chosen in this draft. Greats like Hines Ward, Randy Moss, Fred Taylor, and Charles Woodson were all picked in 1998, and there are currently four members of that draft class in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the 1998 NFL Draft will always stand out to Indianapolis Colts fans for one reason, and one reason alone: Peyton Manning.
Originally the Baltimore Colts, the franchise saw great success in the 1950s and 1960s. But that led to a drought following the loss of Johnny Unitas in the 1970s, even as the team moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis. Between 1984 and 1997, the Colts cycled through seven different head coaches, and 17 starting quarterbacks. (Chris Ballard would be proud.)
That all changed in 1998, when Peyton Manning came on board. The Colts had their greatest success in franchise history with him as QB, becoming one of the league’s dynasties – success they never fully managed to recapture after Manning left.
Peyton Manning is widely considered to be one of the best quarterbacks of all time, with the only other quarterback to come close being Tom Brady; the two are still compared to this day, with debate continuing as to who the better quarterback is.
Linebacker Ray Lewis, for example, said that to him, Manning was the better quarterback and he was the one he always feared playing against. “I would say from a quarterback… from a student level of the game, he made me alter my game. He made me watch more film and that’s what I call the greatest quarterback, to me, me and his battle,” he said. “Brady, of course, rings, but when you talk about just walking out there and seeing a man knowing that whoo, here we go again, Peyton Manning was rough.”
During his time in Indianapolis, Manning led the team to 11 playoff appearances, eight division titles, three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances, and one Super Bowl win. He has earned the most MVP awards, quarterback first-team All-Pro selections, 4,000-yard passing seasons, single-season passing yards, and single-season passing touchdowns. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021, and while there’s no telling what the future will hold, he will likely go down in history as the best Colts player of all time.