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Todd Helton on freshman Peyton Manning in QB room: “I called him a teacher’s pet”

On3 imageby: Eric Cain01/24/24_Cainer
Peyton Manning
Credit: Rex Perry / The Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC

It’s been well documented over the years how Peyton Manning was a true student of the game. Well, from one Hall of Fame athlete to another, Manning might have been a ‘teacher’s pet’ early on.

“Oh, I knew that first meeting we went into without even seeing him on the field,” Todd Helton said of a young Peyton Manning in the quarterback room at Tennessee. “He knew the offense better than I did. I’ve been there three years. He came in raising his hand, answering questions. I called him a teacher’s pet a few times.”

All jokes aside, Helton saw brilliance early on in the freshman quarterback back in 1994 – just as others saw greatness in him on the diamond and the gridiron.  

“Todd in the quarterback room was not as wickedly focused as a Peyton Manning was. But Todd never gave up the alpha position,” former Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach David Cutcliffe told Volquest on Tuesday. “He saw things on the practice field. He had better vision than people knew. He can and could compute things every bit as quickly as Peyton could, which is what made Peyton’s career a Hall of Fame career. Todd kept his seat at the table as the alpha, so to speak, until his injury (against Mississippi State).”

Helton was a standout quarterback at Central High school, earning the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year award as a senior before be placed on a full football scholarship at Tennessee. He had his moments on the football field for the Vols in the years that followed, but football was never the end game for the athlete.

“I got to play with Heath Schuler too – came in second in the Heisman. So, I realized real quick that I wasn’t going to be an NFL quarterback,” Helton admitted. “I mean, football was paying my way to college, but I definitely focused on baseball.”

Helton went on to become one of the more decorated athletes in Tennessee history – on the diamond – as a feared slugger from the left side of the plate and dangerous flame thrower on the mound.

The former two-sport athlete was drafted by the Colorado Rockies eighth overall in 1995, just weeks removed from throwing a complete-game, nine-strikeout gem over Clemson during a 3-1 win at the College World Series in Omaha.

The rest, as they say, is history as Helton was named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday evening – receiving 79.7 percent of votes on his sixth year on the ballot.    

Helton now joins his former teammate in the ranks of Hall of Fame, just in a different sport. And Manning, who has been seen cheering him on every step of the way, was quick to congratulate his former fellow quarterback Tuesday night.

“Was an honor to be your backup, an honor to be your fan, and it’s been an honor to be your friend,” Manning posted on his Instagram account after the announcement. “Congrats on the HOF Todd, so well deserved.”    

Helton, along with fellow 2024 National Baseball Hall of Fame members Adrian Beltre and Joe Mauer, will formally be inducted into Cooperstown on Sunday, July 21.

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