Peyton Manning Hilariously Crashes University of Tennessee Class Amid Coronavirus Self-Distancing

The coronavirus pandemic has made an impact on the entire country. As of Friday morning, the U.S. [...]

By Brian Jones

The coronavirus pandemic has made an impact on the entire country. As of Friday morning, the U.S. has more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than any other country in the world and has led to businesses closing and schools moving online courses. The University of Tennessee is one of the many schools to teaching classes online and one class got a big surprise from one of its alums. NFL legend, Peyton Manning crashed a class taught by Tennessee professor John Haas and the class was in shock. Hass was in the middle of giving instructions to his class before someone joined in late. Haas said: "Mr. Thompson, I think you're late for class."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Haas," Peyton Manning replied, wearing a Tennessee visor. "It's been a while. It's been at least since 1996 or '97 since I've been in a class." When the rest of the class saw who it was, many were in shock.

Haas then went on to say, "You know, if you were here, I'd be making you run the stadium steps for being late. Manning laughed and he then gave the students a message as they try to keep working through the pandemic.

"I realize this is a unique time and probably not the ideal way you guys expected to spend your senior year," Manning, who graduated from Tennessee in 1997 with a degree in communication studies, said to the class.

"I just encourage you to keep a positive attitude, keep working like you're doing and try to take advantage of the little bit of the extra time you have to accomplish something else or help out somebody in need. (There are) a lot of people hurting out there during this time. Be thankful for what you have, and just know the University of Tennessee is proud of you and going to support you any way you can."

Manning played for Vols from 1994-997. He was a unanimous All-American in 1997 and also won the Campbell Trophy and the Maxwell Award. He then went on to be drafted by the Indianapolis Colts No. 1 overall in 1998 and played in the NFL until the end of the 2015 season. He's considered to be one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history as he was named NFL MVP five times, and a two-time Super Bowl champion. Manning was named to the 2000s All-Decade Team and was recently named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

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