The Centennial State is looking for two wins at the 2015 ESPY Awards Wednesday at 6 p.m. MDT, from who else but Peyton Manning and Missy Franklin. Both Manning and Franklin have been named Mile High Sports Magazine’s Sportsperson of the Year – Manning in 2013 and Franklin in 2012.
“The Sheriff” is up for Best-Record Breaking Performance while “The Missile” is a nominee for Best Female College Athlete. Both posted major accomplishments and led their teams to some impressive victories.
During week 7 of the 2014 season, Manning threw a league-record 509th career touchdown pass when he delivered an 8-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas. In the 42-17 blowout game against the 49ers, Manning passed Brett Favre who previously held the record with 508 TD passes which stood for over a decade set by Dan Marino with 420. The record-setting TD was one of four Manning threw to go along with 318 yards passing in this regular season game. Manning finished the season with 530 TD passes which will probably hold for many years to come.
Aside of the NBA’s reining Champ – Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, Manning should be a shoe-in to win the category. Thompson scored a league record for most points in a quarter when he notched 37 in the third quarter of a regular-season game against the Kings last season.
The Atlanta Falcons’ Devin Hester is also a nominee. Hester scored his 20th career punt return TD this season while Lauren Chamberlain of Oklahoma hit her 91st career home run this past season. Both are up for Best Record Breaking Performance against Manning.
As for Franklin, she led her University of California, Berkeley team to its first NCAA title in four years in 2014 and won three NCAA titles of her own in the 200 individual medley, 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke.
Franklin announced in March that she was turning pro as she turns her focus on the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. Since Franklin already has Olympic experience under her belt when she set the record in 4×100 meter medley relay in 2012, its feasible to say that Franklin could be a nominee in 2017’s ESPY Awards for Best Female Athlete.
Be sure to tune in to ABC Wednesday night to see if Missy and Manning take home the awards in their categories!
Mike Tolbert, a Mile High Sports intern and MSU-Denver student, contributed to this report