Peyton Manning is submitting his name for BFF of the Year.
The Denver Broncos signal caller will be preparing for a Monday night matchup against the Raiders next week, but he’s taking some time out to support one of his good friends. Rockies first baseman Todd Helton announced in September that he would be retiring from Major League Baseball after 17 years with the team, and his old pal Peyton will be at his last home game at Coors Field, according to the Denver Post.
Helton was the starting quarterback as a junior at the University of Tennessee for a short while before he sustained a knee injury and Manning took over, and the NFL quarterback says Helton taught him the ropes as a Volunteer.
“I’ll never forget when I first met Todd,” Manning told the paper. “We’re going out to football practice at Tennessee and he’s putting a can of Skoal in his hip pad. I’m thinking, ‘This is what college football players do?'”
Helton will play in his last game at Coors Field on Wednesday against the visiting Red Sox, and Manning will be on hand to cheer his friend on.
“He’s a Hall of Fame player and a Hall of Fame friend,” Manning said of Helton.
“Sometimes when you just write ’17-year career,’ it doesn’t do it justice. You ought to put it in bold caps and write it about 50 times just to realize how much work he put in.”
Helton and the Rockies have shown Manning some hospitality over the years as well. During the NFL lockout when Manning was injured, Helton called the Broncos QB and invited him to work out at the Rockies’ facilities and use the team’s trainers.
“I’m happy for him,” Manning said. “I feel like he’s at peace with (retirement). I have communicated with him. I hope he enjoys these last games. But there won’t be another like him here, I can promise you that.”
Right photo via Facebook/Todd Helton
