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Tennessee football's No. 1 overall NFL draft picks all time
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- Tennessee football's No. 1 overall NFL draft picks all time
The 2025 NFL draft will be held, Thursday-Saturday, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Prior to the 90th NFL draft in league history, Vols Wire looks at historical Tennessee players selected. This installment looks back at Tennessee 's No. 1 overall picks, George Cafego and Peyton Manning . Both were selected as quarterbacks.
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Cafego was selected No. 1 overall in the 1940 NFL draft by the Chicago Cardinals . He never played in Chicago, but made his NFL debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940. After military service, Cafego returned to Brooklyn in 1943 before being traded to Washington. He also played for the Boston Yanks from 1944-45.
Cafego played for the Vols under head coach Robert Neyland and was a member of Tennessee's 1938 national championship team. He was versatile on offense, playing quarterback, fullback and halfback for the Vols. Cafego was the 1938 SEC Player of the Year, a consensus All-American in 1939 and a First-Team All-America selection in 1938. Cafego received All-SEC honors three times and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
After his playing career, Cafego launched a coaching career, serving as an assistant coach at Furman (1948), Wyoming (1949-52), Arkansas (1953-54) and Tennessee (1955-1984). He was assistant coach in the NFL with Denver (1986) and Minnesota (1987).
Cafego was also Tennessee's head baseball coach from 1958-62.
Peyton Manning
Manning was selected No. 1 overall by Indianapolis in 1998. At Tennessee, he was the SEC Player of the Year (1997) and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in 1997.
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Manning played for the Vols from 1994-97 under head coach Phillip Fulmer . His number (16) is retired by Tennessee and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
During Manning's NFL career, he won Super Bowl championships with Indianapolis and Denver . He was a Super Bowl MVP, a five-time NFL MVP and a two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
Manning was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2012 and the Walter Payton Man of the Year (2005). He won the Bart Starr Award (2015), NFLPA Alan Page Community Award (2005) and Bert Bell Award honors three times.
The former Vol is in the Colts ' and Broncos' Ring of Honor and his number (18) is retired by both teams. Manning was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: A look at Vols selected No. 1 overall all time in NFL draft
