Skip to main content

Teenager named Peyton Manning faces identity issues

Fourteen-year-old Peyton Manning has discovered that sharing the same name as the legendary Denver Broncos quarterback isn't a bed of roses.

Let's start here: Young Peyton can't convince the eggheads at Facebook he's a real person.

"People don't believe me sometimes. They think I'm trying to impersonate," the eighth-grader from Littleton, Colo., told The Denver Post. "Facebook won't let me do Manning at all, no matter how many times I try."

Breer: The power of Peyton

With Peyton Manning on board, the Broncos' equation has changed in a major way. Albert Breer explores how. **More ...**

Young Peyton was born on Sept. 3, 1998, three days before the celebrated quarterback made his first start with the Indianapolis Colts. His parents, Mick and Kim Manning, chose the name after the signal-caller decided to stay at Tennessee for his senior season and earn a degree.

"I would have never named him Peyton if I knew (the quarterback) was going to be a legendary football player anywhere, let alone Denver," Kim said. "We're not celebrity (star struck). I just thought it was a great name, and he was full of strength and character. He had a lot of personal attributes you want your son to have. And my son has lived up to it.

"But definitely, nobody believes him anymore."

Back to the critical aspect of this post: the Facebook situation. Young Peyton has managed to work around his messy circumstances by adopting the handle "Peyton Scott," playing off his middle name.

Facebook programmers didn't blink this time.

Solid audible, young man.

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.