Best college football players of all time from every state

Louisiana – Peyton Manning

With the typically dominant nature of LSU and impressive talent that can often be found at Louisiana Tech and other smaller schools, Louisiana has produced some first-class talent. Players like Terry Bradshaw and Marshall Faulk call Louisiana their home state.

But this is an easy decision to go with Peyton Manning who went on to become the face of Tennessee football and later the NFL where he was one of the greatest of all time.

Though his freshman season only got started part of the way through, it wasn’t long before Manning started to become a national star prospect. After throwing for 1,141 yards and 11 touchdowns in his freshman year (of which he played about half of the games), Manning threw for 2,954 yards in the air and 22 touchdowns, rushing for five more, while throwing only four interceptions.

Tennessee thrived as a result, going to an 11-1 record and a No. 2 final ranking at the end of the season. Manning passed 3,000 yards easily in his junior campaign, finishing with another impressive stat sheet of 3,287 yards and, 20 touchdowns. The Vols narrowly missed winning the SEC East behind a stacked Florida Gators team.

Manning won many awards, including the Johnny Unitas Award, the SEC Player of the Year award, and All-American honors, but fell short of the Heisman in an upset that saw Charles Woodson become the first defensive player to win.