"Disliked him intensely" - NFL HoFer Bill Polian claims half of the scouts at the 1998 Draft hated Peyton Manning
We all know Peyton Manning, "The Sheriff", one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. He started his career with the Indianapolis Colts and won a Super Bowl for the organization that drafted him.
However, it appears that, leading up to the 1998 NFL draft, in which Manning was eligible, that not everyone was sold on him being the number-one pick. Ryan Leaf was another who many thought could be the number-one pick.
#tbt - 15 yrs ago today. With the 1st pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, the Colts select: Peyton Manning, QB Tennessee. http://t.co/gWwYDZkibs
Bill Polian, who was the Colts general manager at the time, spoke on the Inside Football podcast and discussed what went down with Leaf and Manning prior to the draft, and weirdly enough, 50% of the scouting staff disliked the Tennessee product intensely.
Polian said:
"Well, first of all, I don't pay any attention to and I strive not to pay attention to noise prior to my doing the film work. So, I couldn't have told you who the front runner was. You know, prior to my sitting down and looking at the tape, but as soon as we had our first scouting meeting in Indianapolis, it was clear that there was a 50-50 dichotomy on the scouting staff.
Polian continued:
"Fifty percent had Manning number one; 50% had Leaf number one. The irony was that the 50%, who liked Manning didn't dislike Leaf necessarily, they thought Manning was better. They saw some warts on Leaf but not many.
#tbt - 1998 NFL Draft
Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson.
instagram.com/p/ndzQe0jEZ5/ http://t.co/7GAxIdhWPw
Polian added:
"The guys who disliked Manning kind of disliked him intensely. And I think that mirrored what was going on in the media. Now there was so much noise once we got to Indianapolis and prepared for the draft that you couldn't avoid it."
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back now at the careers of both quarterbacks, it appears that Polian and the Colts made the right decision in selecting the Tennessee quarterback with the first overall pick.
Peyton Manning: An incredible player
Having won two Super Bowls, one with Indianapolis and one with Denver, the former Tennessee star was a surefire Hall of Famer, and it proved to be true, and he joined the illustrious group on August 7 of 2021.
His ability to constantly come up big when his team needed him and his ability to dissect defenses made it nearly impossible to stop him when in the groove. His battles with Tom Brady were also a feature of his career, with both dealing their fair share of blows to each other.
The Indianapolis and Denver star finished his distiungushed career with 71,940 passing yards and 539 touchdowns over his 17-year career. His regular-season record is also a sight to behold.
During his 17-year career, there were only two times when he had a losing record (one being his rookie season), and there were two times when he lost six games in a single season, making it a total of four years out of 17 that he lost six games or more.
One can only think if, back in 1998, Colts had selected Leaf, instead of the Tennessee star, where the pair's career's would have ended up. But one thing is for sure, Indianapolis is happy that they chose "The Sherrif."