Tennessee football: Peyton Manning still mad at Trevor Lawrence for going to Clemson over Vols

Peyton Manning still hasn’t gotten over Trevor Lawrence snubbing Tennessee in favor of Clemson.

Several Tennessee football fans haven’t forgiven Butch Jones for a lot of things, but among the primary offenses is failing to land Trevor Lawrence as a recruit.

Lawrence was the nation’s top recruit and grew up a fan of Peyton Manning with both of his parents being natives of Tennessee and big-time fans of the Vols.

It could have been a slam dunk had the Vols been a better football program at the time, but for Lawrence, it was hardly a hard decision to go to Clemson and continue the championship legacy that was built under Deshaun Watson, Dabo Swinney and others.

Count Manning among those who haven’t gotten over their feelings of what could have been had Lawrence committed to Tennessee and where the program could be today if he played for the Vols.

Peyton Manning wishes Trevor Lawrence played for Tennessee

Speaking with Gene Sapakoff from The Post and Courier, Manning thinks if Lawrence really wanted to pay tribute to him, going to Tennessee would have been the fitting gesture, not just wearing his old college number.

“I kind of heard that Trevor wore No. 16 at Clemson because he enjoyed watching me at Tennessee,” Manning, 44, said by phone. “I said to Trevor, ‘I think it would have been a nicer tribute if you had gone to the same college that I went to.’”

Of course, this is just some good-natured joking from Manning but there is a little bit of truth in that. There is no animosity though as Manning has served as a mentor for Lawrence who has worked at the Manning Passing Academy in the past.

The two text each other and Manning has provided some advice when Lawrence has sought it out. Lawrence has often been compared to Manning and the Vols legend and future Hall of Famer is a big fan of the presumptive No. 1 picks game.

“I like the way Trevor plays,” Manning said. “I like the way he competes and it’s been fun to see him develop between his freshman, sophomore and junior years. I’m excited for this next chapter for him.”

Manning and Lawrence will share another thing in common when the Jaguars make Lawrence the No. 1 pick in the draft just as the Colts did for Manning in 1998.

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