Peyton Manning to be honored at Tennessee Vols vs Georgia Bulldogs game

Tennessee Volunteers legend Peyton Manning is set to be honored at halftime of this year’s Georgia Bulldogs game in Knoxville.

Related Story: Peyton Manning's top 5 performances with the Vols

Tennessee football will honor its favorite son again this Fall. Peyton Manning will be recognized at halftime when the Vols take on the Dawgs at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 30.

According to UTSports online, the National Football Foundation will honor him at the game as its official ‘on-campus salute’ of his selection to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Manning is the 23rd Hall of Fame inductee from Tennessee. He joins names like Robert Neyland, Phillip Fulmer, Reggie White, Johnny Majors and Doug Atkins.

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Of course, if you were going to honor Peyton Manning for his play against a particular college team, it would make sense to do so against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

That’s one of the teams Manning owned and one of the rivalry games he made Vols fans look forward to.

However, this is a year in which Alabama is on the road. And to be fair, he was always dominant against Georgia. After all, Manning did beat them in three times in three starts.

The Vols had the same problem when they retired his jersey in 2005. They had to do it against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

And that leads to another issue.

That retirement was at least before the game, but could this honor lead to a distraction for the Vols? It is more than possible.

Remember, Tennessee lost that game to South Carolina 16-15. To be fair, that had a heck of a lot more to due with the way the season was going at the time.

Regardless of all that, Manning deserves respect and congratulations for earning this prestigious honor as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Next: What if Peyton Manning chose Ole Miss over the Vols?

One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, he was re-writing the SEC record books before he began re-writing the NFL record books. And as a result, he deserves this recognition.