Peyton Manning studied under David Cutcliffe when the pair were at the University of Tennessee in the late 1990s, with Cutcliffe as the Offensive Coordinator and Manning as the quarterback for four seasons with the Vols as the tandem teamed up for an SEC Championship and numerous individual awards for Manning. Although he went on to become the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft the following season and finished a professional career as one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game, Manning never lost touch with his former coach and still has a bedroom in Cutcliffe's Durham home when he and his brother, Eli, come to visit.

This past weekend, both Manning and Cutcliffe were inducted in to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and Peyton was tasked with introducing his mentor into the organization. He became choked up when talking about the impact Cutcliffe had on him throughout his life.

"Coach Cutcliffe, what can I say?" Manning began. "Except not only do you belong here in the Tennessee Hall of Fame, but you are also in my personal Hall of Fame. You always believed in me, told me the unvarnished truth and drove me to be my best."

Cutcliffe returned the favor later in the event, telling stories of his former QB.

"My mind has drifted back to New Orleans, Louisiana and my first home visit to the Manning home," Cutcliffe said. "Thank goodness one of many to come. You know how when you know you're with the right person and it all syncs up? Pretty special. We've maintained that type of relationship and spent many, many nights in our homes. My favorite memory of Peyton when he was more Peyton-like was when he lived with us during the transition from when he had no health to when he had health. He found out he wasn't a Colt anymore in our home. I saw him at his best, a willingness to work through pain, I wish I could've bottled that. Maybe the greatest thing I've ever witnessed athletically in my life was that return and the work that it took by him to make that comeback. I wish people really understood that."

Manning rehabbed at Duke extensively to get back on to the football field after two neck surgeries in 2011 caused doctors to question his ability to ever play football competitively again. He turned to Cutcliffe to rebuild not just his throwing motion but his entire mentality around the game. That trust was developed early in their careers, when the two quarterback experts were trading tidbits in the offensive meetings.

"Kind of a funny story, I had him four years," Cutcliffe remembered. "If I changed something just a little bit he would go thumbing through notebooks and say 'wait a minute, two years ago on September 5th you said this'. Wait a minute, it changes a little bit, Peyton. He made me better at every aspect of my coaching career."

Now, both men are in the Hall of Fame of the state where they made their magic together and they couldn't be happier to be inducted together.

"Going into the Hall of Fame with Coach Cutcliffe makes this even more special for me," said Manning. "He had a tremendous influence on my career. He was my quarterbacks, my offensive coordinator and still kind of remained as my coach even when I was in the NFL."

Interestingly enough, the latest Cutcliffe protege at QB, in Daniel Jones, was drafted sixth overall by the New York Giants this spring and is in a battle with Peyton's younger brother Eli to start under center this coming year and the immediate future.