'It wasn’t the best experience in New York' - Vols legend Peyton Manning reflects on losing the Heisman Trophy to Charles Woodson

The Tennessee Vols nearly had their first Heisman Trophy winner in 1997, but quarterback Peyton Manning finished as the runner-up to Michigan Wolverines defensive back Charles Woodson.

Manning recently commented about finishing as the runner-up to NBC Sports announcer Cris Collinsworth.

The former Vol admitted that going to New York for the ceremony wasn't the best experience, while pointing out that he mostly wanted to win the Heisman Trophy for Tennessee (because the program had never had a Heisman winner before).

“I was up for the Heisman Trophy and Charles Woodson won it, an incredible player,” said Manning during an interview with Pro Football Focus and Collinsworth. “But I guess it wasn’t the best experience in New York — being up there and having a camera on your face and it’s sort of this live reality TV show kind of filming your disappointment.

"And the reason I was disappointed, I really wanted to win it for the University of Tennessee. They’ve never had one. Tennessee’s had four runner-up finishes. Never won one, so that was kind of my disappointment."

Manning's experience at the Heisman ceremony in New York led to him not-so-subtly telling Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian that the franchise needed to select him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft.

"I went and visited them (the Colts) for a little health combine recheck about three weeks before the draft,” said Manning. “I just kind of said, ‘Hey, listen, I want to come here. I really think there’s a good thing going here, but I’m just not into playing a lot of games.

"And I’m not going up to New York again and having this sort of a-ha gotcha moment and y’all take somebody else. If you’re not going to take me, I’d just like to know that in advance’. I said, ‘If you do take me, I promise you we’ll win. If you don’t take me, I will kick your ass for the next 15 years’. It was just kind of how I felt at the time. And supposedly, that’s when Bill Polian said, ‘I think we’re going to take him’. That’s what kind of convinced him that this is our guy. I didn’t plan that. It wasn’t scripted. But I guess they liked that sort of bold statement and maybe that’s why they drafted me.”

Manning ended up leading the Colts to a win in Super Bowl XLI.

Tennessee has still never had a Heisman Trophy winner. Quarterback Hendon Hooker looked like he was on his way to at least being a finalist in 2022, but a torn ACL in the penultimate game of the regular season ended the North Carolina native's Heisman campaign.