Peyton entered high school a hot commodity. He left an even hotter one.

In three years as Isidore Newman High's starting quarterback, Peyton smoked opposing defenses with his arm, recording a 34-5 record as a starter. He passed for 7,207 yards, completing 59.4 percent of his passes with 92 touchdowns. After his senior season, Peyton was named Gatorade Circle of Champions National Player of the Year and was the number one recruited quarterback in the nation.

After spending months as one of the highest recruited athletes in the nation, Peyton made the decision that was right for him - he chose Tennessee.

What mattered next was Peyton's run with the Volunteers. Archie is generally considered the greatest quarterback in Southeastern Conference history. Peyton's not far behind. In fact, a panel of SEC sportswriters voted Peyton the third-best QB in conference history. Peyton was also named first string SEC All Decade Team.

A quick glance at his stats shows why. Peyton finished his Tennessee tour as the school's all-time leading passer with 11,201 yards, 863 completions and 89 touchdowns. He holds 42 NCAA, SEC and Tennessee records, including 33 Tennessee single game, season and career records. Peyton was 39-6 as a starter for Tennessee. And each year he got better and better. As a freshman, he threw three touchdowns against South Carolina. As a sophomore, he recorded his first 300-yard day against Georgia. His first 400-yard game came as junior against Florida, and as a senior he threw his first 500-yard game against Kentucky. His accuracy was remarkable. In 380 passing attempts as a sophomore, he threw just four interceptions, an NCAA single-season record. For his career, he recorded the lowest interception percentage of all time, 2.39 percent, a mere 33 interceptions in 1,381 attempts.

After his junior season, Peyton had proven to many experts that he was ready for the NFL. He possessed the skills, arm strength, maturity and intelligence to excel at the next level and was projected to be the #1 pick. He also would have his degree - a BA in speech communication, graduating with honors. Why wouldn't he leave school for the riches and glamour of the NFL?

The NFL Could Wait
"My college experience was a really good one, so I decided to stay all four years," Peyton said. "I just didn't want to look back and say I wish I would of stayed my senior year. That's really what it was in a nutshell. I just kind of wanted to be a senior in college. I had already completed my degree in three years, so, I knew I had a chance to slow things down a little bit. I had the opportunity to really take everything in and create a lot of memories for myself and I'm certainly glad I did. For months I was asked the same question repeatedly every day: 'why did you really stay?' I just wanted to enjoy being a college senior. For some reason people had a very hard time believing that."

His decision was more than scoffed at in some circles. But after Peyton threw up astounding numbers in 1997 (3,819 yards, 36 touchdowns), he was a near cinch to be selected first in the 1998 NFL Draft. He didn't take home the Heisman but Peyton walked away from college with an astounding collection of hardware. He was selected to the GTE Academic All-American team, won the prestigious Burger King Vincent Draddy Scholar-Athlete of the Year with a $100,000. endowed scholarship to the university among other awards. He was named the Maxwell Trophy winner for college football's best player and the winner of the Davey O'Brien and Johnny Unitas awards as the nation's best passer. Peyton also received the illustrious Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete across all sports.

Peyton, the only player to have his jersey retired in Tennessee history, left satisfied the he had made the right choice...At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, he left Tennessee arguably better prepared for the NFL than anyone could be.

Draft Day Decision-Making
Only one question remained: Who - Peyton, or fellow quarterback, Ryan Leaf - would be the 1998 NFL Draft's top pick? At 6-5, 243, Leaf was bigger and more athletic. Leaf had a quicker release, too. He still had one year of eligibility.

"Astute" football minds debated the question like they were cracking the human genetic code. Less than a year later the results already overwhelmingly confirmed the Indianapolis Colts made the correct choice, tabbing Peyton with the first pick. The "intangibles," Peyton's maturity, poise and his understanding of life in the NFL due to his father's experience weighed in his favor. Finally, for those who think the man is just lucky, just try his intelligence, desire or work ethic on for size.