Cooper Manning once hilariously defended Peyton Manning from college fan questioning QB's choice to party - “Relax, we’re just playing Kentucky”

Peyton Manning is the most famous quarterback in his family. However, Cooper Manning, his elder brother, once stole his thunder when Peyton was playing for the University of Tennessee.

Peyton recounted a hilarious interaction that happened when his brother came to Knoxville and was out partying the night before a game.

While Peyton had retired to be fresh for the next day, Cooper Manning had no such qualms, and he continued partying till late. As they look so alike, one fan mistook the elder sibling for the younger one and admonished him, saying:

"Peyton, what in the world are you doing out? It’s midnight and we’ve got a game tomorrow!"

The Hall-of-Fame quarterback was in the Stranahan Theater fund-raising for Dana LPGA Open. He recounted to The Toledo Blade how his brother responded to the query, saying:

“Cooper took a little swig, puffed on the cigar, and said, ‘Relax, we’re just playing Kentucky.’ Thanks a lot, bro.”

We are not sure how assured the fan left hearing the elder Manning's opinion. However, as Peyton took the field the next day, he ensured the game went into the record books among his many wins against Kentucky. For the record, he played Kentucky four times in college and never lost against them.

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Peyton Manning recounts how his dad's advice got him into trouble

At the same event, Peyton Manning recounted how he was once thrown into the thick of things right in his freshman year at the University of Tennesee. He was the third-choice quarterback, but in a game against UCLA, both the starting and the backup quarterbacks were injured, and he had to start for Tennesee.

At that crucial moment, Manning said that he remembered one piece of advice his father, Archie Manning, long-time NFL quarterback and the patriarch of the Manning family, had given him. Here's what Peyton said:

“As I’m jogging in there, I was so nervous, but I remembered something my dad [Archie] had told me: ‘If you ever get in the huddle with the starters, you’ve got to be the leader. You’ve got to take control.’ ... So I remember my dad’s advice. I said, ‘All right, I know I’m just a freshman, but I can take us down the field right now and get us a touchdown and get us back in this game. Let’s go.’"

However, the intended result was not as expected as one of the players put him in his place. Adding from his recollections, the quarterback continued:

“The big left tackle, about 6-5, 330 pounds, grabs me by the shoulder and says, ‘Hey freshman, shut the blank up and call the play.’ I said, ‘Yes sir.’ Good advice from my dad!"

Peyton Manning said that it taught him the lesson that he first had to earn the respect of his colleagues before anything else. He said that he did so by arriving to practice earlier than everyone else, leaving after everyone else had, going through his notes, owning up in interviews, and other habits that later became the hallmark of his successful career.

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Cooper Manning was once a bigger football prospect than his brother

Despite all the success Peyton Manning had, there was a time when Cooper Manning was the biggest name coming out of the Manning family.

He was a successful high school wide receiver at Isidore Newman School with his younger brother and chose to play for the University of Mississippi in college. It was where his father played and where Eli Manning would later go on to play.

However, after feeling some numbness in his fingers and toes, he got himself diagnosed with spinal stenosis. Unfortunately, that ended his career. In his honor, Peyton continued to wear the number 18 jersey throughout his career.