Colts Feeling Effects Of Peyton Manning-Mania

INDIANAPOLIS (April 20, 1998) -- The Indianapolis Colts expected an immediate impact when they made Peyton Manning the first overall pick in Saturday's NFL draft.

But even they're surprised by the aftershocks created by the arrival of Tennessee's All-America quarterback.

Monday was anything but a normal work day.

Representatives of Jay Leno wanted to book Manning for an appearance this week. Officials from ESPN were interested in lining up Manning and his father, Archie, for its Up Close program. Fox Sports put in a call, as did television stations from Knoxville, Tenn., and New Orleans.

Manning's blanket response: Thanks, but no thanks.

"Peyton said he wants to spend time this week with his playbook," said Colts spokesperson Todd Stewart.

The team will hold a three-day minicamp starting Friday, and Manning already has been named starting quarterback. The team anticipates a horde of media converging at its West 56th Street complex to record Manning's first on-field activity as a Colt.

And the fans?

By the end of business Monday, the Colts said they had recorded approximately 181,000 hits on their NFL.com Web site since Manning was drafted Saturday. "That's unprecedented," said Craig Kelley, director of public relations.

Phones in the ticket office rang "nonstop" Monday, keeping seven employees busy, said Greg Hilton, the team's director of ticket sales.

The Colts were hoping to tap into the Manning-mania that gripped the state of Tennessee the past four years, and early indications are encouraging. Hilton said numerous calls seeking ticket information came from Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville. A man in Birmingham, Ala., an SEC hotbed, inquired about purchasing 400 tickets for the Colts' Sept. 6 regular-season opener against Miami.

To date, approximately 94 percent of the team's 11,000 season-ticket accounts have been renewed. The majority of season-ticket holders re-upped just in anticipation of the Colts drafting either Manning or Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf.

"I'm not saying we sold 100 or 200 season tickets (Monday), because we didn't," said Hilton. "But the volume of calls we received shows how much interest there is.