Tennessee Vols legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning has one of the best/most unique nicknames in all of sports. 

For over a decade, Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner, has been referred to by many folks simply as "The Sheriff". 

Manning received the nickname from former NFL head coach Jon Gruden in 2009. 

Gruden, who was in his first year as an analyst on ESPN's Monday Night Football in 2009, referred to Manning as "The Sheriff" during a game between the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts. 

"I call him the Sheriff, because every town he plays in, he lays down the law," said Gruden during the opening of the 2009 game between the Colts and the Dolphins. 

Manning joined "Gruden's Vault" recently and talked about the iconic nickname. 

"Just so you know, I never refer to myself as The Sheriff," said Manning. "Just want to be on the up-and-up on that. But people do call me that. I was working out today and I was leaving and the guy was like, 'see you later, Sheriff' and I was like, 'see you later'. So it seems to be sticking with folks."

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Gruden's most memorable run-in with Manning, which is what inspired the nickname, came during a Monday Night Football matchup in 2003. 

At the time, Gruden was the head coach of the Tamp Bay Buccaneers while Manning was in his sixth season with the Colts. 

The Bucs led the Colts 35-14 with about four minutes left in the game. Manning and the Colts proceeded to score 21 unanswered points (thanks to an onside kick and a couple of quick scoring drives) to send the game to overtime. 

Indianapolis completed the comeback with a game-winning field goal in overtime. 

It may have seemed like Peyton was "laying down the law" while going full Michael Jordan in the final four minutes of the game, but he admitted to The Athletic several years ago that things felt "as bad as it could get" when the Colts were down by 21. 

"It’s funny how everybody changes the story all these years later – like we knew we had them all along," said Manning in 2019 to The Athletic. "That’s not true at all. It was as bad as it could get at 35-14. As bad as it could get. The last thing I remember is the plane ride home that night. Nobody sat down the whole flight, we were probably standing during takeoff. We didn’t care. We all knew we’d just done something pretty dang special."

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