Gus Manning defined Tennessee sports. Robert R. Neyland hired him as a student in 1946; since then, he has done it all. He was a sports information director, business manager, senior associate athletic director, and game manager for Tennessee football and basketball games.

Manning was awarded the Business Manager of the Year award in 1989 by the College Athletic Business Managers Association and was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, where he also served as president. He co-hosted “The Locker Room” radio show for over 50 years. It is the longest, continuous-running sports radio show in the country. Manning also co-authored two books with one of his radio partners, Haywood Harris.

Despite no relation, Gus Manning had a great relationship with Peyton Manning. It was so close that when Peyton played in Indianapolis, he convinced the Colts that Gus was his grandfather so that he would be treated better. Peyton also chose his donations to the university in 2016 to result in naming gate 16 as “Gus Manning Gate.”

The ex-Marine walked on to the football team in 1947 and played baseball there, too. He graduated in 1950 but was back by 1951 when Neyland hired him. Manning went to every football game he could, with his streak ending at 608, all locations included.