Peyton Manning and Bo Nix go back a while.
Nix, the Broncos rookie quarterback, was still at Auburn in 2021 when he went to the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana, a popular destination for college quarterbacks. The two kept in touch from there, including when Nix considered transferring from Auburn, where his dad, Pat, also played quarterback. Among the people he called before making a bold move to leave the SEC and go to Oregon: Manning.
This spring, the Broncos picked Nix No. 12 overall in the NFL draft in hopes that he can be the man to end a run of quarterback futility that dates back to Manning’s retirement after Denver won Super Bowl 50 in 2016.