Broncos QB Peyton Manning Named SI's 2013 Sportsman of the Year

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was named the 2013 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year on Sunday evening. According to MileHighReport.com, Manning is just the eighth professional football player to take home the award.

SI's Peter King noted on Twitter: "Manning's likely to throw for 50 touchdowns and 5,000 yards at 37, two years after he couldn't throw a ball 10 feet. He's quite worthy."

Manning is having an historic season in Denver and has the 11-3 Broncos primed to clinch the top seed in the AFC Playoff race. At age 37, Manning also appears to be a shoe-in to win the 2013 NFL MVP award.

Earlier this month, Manning sat down with Will Ferrell (a.k.a. Ron Burgundy) on ESPN to promote Ferrell's new film, Anchorman II. In the interview, Manning joked that he frequently calls audibles to throw off the defense including "Underpants! Underpants!"

Peyton Manning is the 1st athlete from Colorado to ever be named SI Sportsman of the year, fitting both for him on field & off... #fb
— Jim Saccomano (@broncos_sacco) December 16, 2013

As of earlier this month, Manning was also leading all NFL players in Pro Bowl voting with 926,432 votes. This year will mark Manning's 13th Pro Bowl selection in this his 15th season played.

Broncos fans can only hope that Manning will be too busy preparing for Super Bowl XLVIII when the Pro Bowl rolls around. Tickets for both the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl can be purchased on TiqIQ.com.