If you had the chance to meet your favorite athlete or celebrity, what would you say or do?
Welcome to the second story time with Dylan Holt. This time we are going back to my freshman year of high school. Rather than baseball, this time we’ll be diving into the world of football and my unique first and only interaction with my favorite football player ever.
I want to start this by saying my father wanted to name me Peyton Holt- after the great Peyton Manning. What a great name, being named after one of the best football players of all time would have been unreal. My mom vetoed the idea though, which is why I come to you as Dylan Holt. (Still a 10 out of 10 name, shoutout Stacey for the great name choice.)
My dad raised me as a Tennessee Volunteer fan. With that came a few things- I had to learn all the words to rocky top, years of being disappointed in the results of football games, and understanding that Peyton Manning is the greatest to ever touch a football.
During football season, every Saturday, my brother, dad, and I would watch the good ‘ole Tennesse Volunteers. After watching the Vols, more than likely lose, on Sunday, we would watch our own teams; my brother would watch the Titans, dad would watch the Steelers and I would watch the Colts for Peyton Manning. It was just the way life worked during football season.
Another side note- as any of you who listen to the Dylan and Dylan Show know, I am a fan of the Tennessee Titans. I wish I could say I was a lifelong fan, but that is not the case. I grew up learning how great Peyton was, and that’s what I saw, so I watched the Colts for Peyton. Kind of like how some NBA fans follow LeBron James rather than the team he is on. I was just ahead of the wave. When Peyton left the Colts, I couldn’t watch the Denver Broncos every week, so I became a fan of the Titans, it just made sense.
In 2011 my dad won free tickets to a Titans- Colts game. He won them in such an absurd way, which to this day I still don’t quite understand, it had something to do with Wonderbread.
Getting tickets to Titans-Colts was perfect as my brother loved the Titans and we all loved Peyton, plus, it was a free NFL game. The game was scheduled the day after we were set to go to a University of Tennessee game in Knoxville, where the Vols were playing South Carolina. Pretty dope weekend. Of course, everything doesn’t go as planned.
This was the season Peyton Manning was sitting out with his neck injury, which was a huge bummer for all of us as we all wanted to see Peyton play.
The night before Titans-Colts, we saw No. 13 South Carolina play our beloved Tennessee Vols. Looking back at this box score in 2022 is awesome. Seeing names like Alshon Jeffery, Stephon Gilmore, and DJ Swearinger, to just name a few, is crazy. That’s not even mentioning freshman defensive end for South Carolina Jadeveon Clowney. South Carolina won 14-3, but looking back at it, they were much better than that Tennessee team.
(Here are the few highlights from that game for any who might be interested.)
After the game, we left Knoxville to head to a motel between Knox and Nashville. Slept for about 3 hours and then woke up and headed to what was LP Field at the time for the Colts-Titans game. We got to the Stadium early because it was our first NFL game, and we wanted to enjoy the experience.
We got into the Stadium at about 10 am. We went straight to our seats in the south end zone, 3 rows up. Awesome seats. Felt like we were on the field; we were so close.
After about 30 minutes of just sitting in our seats, players started coming out onto the field. I remember seeing Chris Johnson, Pat McAfee, Robert Mathis and so many more.
All those guys were cool to see. But not as cool as the guy we were about to see.
From the tunnel across from our seats, I saw a tall guy walking out in a suit. Time froze. I looked at my brother, he looked at me, we looked at our dad, and we all said, “no way, that’s Peyton.”
Better yet, he was walking straight toward us. I was sitting there thinking, “I have to get his attention,” this was my one chance to try and talk to my favorite player.
*take note at this time, there are maybe 200 people in this entire stadium*
Peyton walked right in front of us, and I yelled out “Peyton, Peyton!”
Peyton Manning looks me in the eyes.
Archie and Olivia’s son, Eli and Cooper’s brother, Arch’s uncle, a product of the University of Tennessee via Isidore Newman High School. All 6 foot 6 inches, 5 feet of forehead, the greatest quarterback to ever play staring me in the eyes.
I panicked and yelled, “I love you.”
I kid you not, Peyton, still staring me in the eyes, says, “you too.” He then waved and walked into the locker room. Simply GOAT behavior.
My dad shook his head.I knew he was just jealous he didn’t think to do it, though. My brother was freaking out.
I remember sitting there and just thinking, “yup Peyton Manning loves me.” What a time to be alive.
100% one of the best moments of my life, I’ll never forget it. Peyton Manning is the best, and if you think otherwise, you’re simply wrong.
The game also happened that day. The Titans were able to beat an 0-7 Colts team 27-10.
