Health & Fitness
Peyton Manning and His Predecessors: 3/4 Go to Denver Eventually
Manning is not the first No. 1 overall Colts pick to go to the Broncos. He's actually the third, after two other quarterbacks.
The Peyton Manning trade was such a ridiculously specific situation--a quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick drafted by the Colts who eventually finds his way to the Denver Broncos--that one might expect it to be unique in NFL annals.
Wrong. This is the third time it's happened.
A plurality of football fans are probably familiar with the story of John Elway, who was drafted by the then-Baltimore Colts in 1983 but refused to play for the franchise, threatening to pursue a career in baseball instead. The Colts eventually shipped him to Denver for comparative peanuts and the rest was history.
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However, George Shaw was also an ex-Colts No. 1 draft pick and eventual Bronco! Baltimore made him the first overall pick in 1955, but Shaw broke his leg in 1956 and was replaced by his backup, Johnny Unitas (you may have heard of him). Shaw backed up Unitas for two years before being released, and bounced around the league for a few years before... wait for it... landing with the AFL's Denver Broncos in 1962!
The Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts have held the No. 1 overall draft pick six times, more than any other NFL team, and it'll be seven after April's draft. The Colts have used the pick on a quarterback four times, and only one has not eventually ended up with the Broncos (Jeff George, drafted 1990). So if the Colts draft Andrew Luck No. 1 in April, as they're widely expected to do, the odds favor him becoming a Bronco at some point in his career.
