Peyton Manning's name goes above the title on the list of Little Rock Touchdown Club speakers David Bazzel announced Tuesday for its 20th season, meeting weekly at the DoubleTree Hilton downtown.
Has the Southeastern Conference produced a more popular football player than the son of Archie who played for the Tennessee Volunteers and, in a Hall of Fame-worthy pro career, won a Super Bowl title each with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos?
Manning's Sept. 5 date with the LRTC follows the first major week of the college season, allowing an early SEC wrapup and preview of the Week Two game between Texas and host Alabama. Nephew Arch (Cooper's son and Eli's nephew; hence the Manning quarterback tree descended from Archie and Olivia) should be in a Texas uniform for his second college game.
Peyton and Eli, with a studio guest, provide an alternative voice to the NFL Monday night game aired by ESPN.
In a year that the Little Rock Club is welcoming Tony Dorsett for a Sept. 11 visit, someone is sure to bring up the 1997 Heisman Trophy results, which frankly smelled. Returning to Tennessee for his senior year, Manning was thought the likely winner if for nothing more than meritorious service. Charles Woodson, a defensive back and kick returner for No. 1 Michigan, was a somewhat quirky choice as that year's most outstanding player in college football. The 2007 results, Florida's Tim Tebow over Arkansas' Darren McFadden, if not Ohio State's Troy Smith over McFadden the previous year, also emitted a pungent odor.
Dorsett won the 1976 Heisman for national champion Pittsburgh, whose coach, Johnny Majors, returned home to helm Tennessee but did not coach Manning. The Manning connection with LRTC this year is extended to the Nov. 21 appearance of former Ole Miss and Duke coach David Cutcliffe, Peyton's position coach at Tennessee.
Bazzel, a former University of Arkansas linebacker for Lou Holtz, presents a Razorback-centric lineup starting Aug. 22 with head coach Sam Pittman. In his fourth UA season, Pittman is bracing for his first Little Rock opener Sept. 2 against Western Carolina in War Memorial Stadium, where past opening opponents have included Stanford, USC and Miami.
Some are sure to show for only the tailgate party in a scheduled 3 p.m. start on the SEC Network and ESPN Plus. The Great Stadium Debate between Little Rock, which Arkansas has called a home away from home since 1948, and Fayetteville has mercifully curtailed.
The UA thread extends to Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek Sept. 18 and former Hog and pro running back Peyton Hillis Sept. 25. Yurachek can examine the Razorbacks' first three games -- Kent State and BYU also are in Arkansas stadiums -- while Hillis, a former star player at Conway High before becoming arguably the best blocking back in UA history, analyzes the team's upcoming Southeastern Conference opener against Texas A&M.
The SEC Network sends guests for four weeks with Laura Rutledge here Aug. 28, Chris Doering Oct. 30, Alyssa Lang Nov. 6 and Ryan McGee Nov. 13. Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon is in town Oct. 2, a week before Arkansas State coach Butch Jones, whose 2025 Red Wolves have a Little Rock date with the Razorbacks.
Then come former Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Pittsburgh coach Jackie Sherrill, if only to update the Jimbo Fisher-Bobby Petrino union at Texas A&M, and Central Arkansas coach Nathan Brown. The UCA coach addresses the club during the first Razorback bye week after eight straight games, a Florida visit launching the four-game November crucible. Pray tell, what will the Razorbacks' record be then.