"He looks strong and Manning doesn't" - Letter resurfaces showing that journalist refused to loan money to Colts owners for Peyton Manning and wanted team to draft Ryan Leaf instead

Peyton Manning was one of the best draft picks in NFL history. The quarterback was selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts and quickly became the face of the franchise, leading them to two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl victory.

However, in 1998, there were plenty of doubts surrounding Manning before his arrival in the league. A letter has surfaced from 1998 that requested Colts owner Jim Irsay to draft Ryan Leaf instead of Manning. The writer of the letter, Hunter S. Thompson, a journalist, also refused to lend the owner the money required to sign Manning.

Here's a look at the letter, courtesy of a user named "alexcass91" on Reddit.

The letter from Thompson read:

"Dear James, In response to your addled request fr a quick $30 million loan to secure the services of the Manning kid -- I have to say no at this time."

"But the Leaf boy is another matter. He looks strong and Manning doesn't -- or at least not strong enough to handle that 'Welcome to the NFL' business for two years without a world-class offensive line."

The journalist went on to ask the Colts owner if he wanted money to sign Leaf.

"Okay. Let me know if you need some money for Leaf. I expect to be very rich when this Depp movie comes out. Your faithful consultant, Hunter."

"Depp," Peyton Manning, or Ryan Leaf?

Super Bowl 50 - Carolina Panthers v Denver Broncos

Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, went against the journalist's wishes and drafted the "Manning kid" anyway. The references in the letter to "Sapp" likely mean Warren Sapp, and the "Depp movie" is probably a reference to a film starring Johnny Depp.

At the time, Depp was involved in the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which, according to IMDb, was released on May 22, 1998. It was likely in its final marketing stages when the letter was written. The movie made roughly $13 million per Bombreport, not even half of the amount of the loan proposed in the letter.

In putting his faith in the Johnny Depp film and endorsing Ryan Leaf over Peyton Manning, the journalist essentially made poor decisions while Jim Irsay made the correct choice.

Manning stuck around in Indianapolis till 2011 but neck injuries meant the Colts decided to replace him with Andrew Luck.

Manning then went to Denver and took the team to two Super Bowls, retiring after winning the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the 2015 season.