PEYTON MANNING IMAGES

Quarterbacks have always held a special place in the pop culture universe. If you're good, you’re held in an almost mythical light. If you're bad, your name is probably "Joey Harrington." Peyton Manning is certainly one of the good ones, having amassed an unbelievable collection of statistics, records and (most importantly) a big, fat, diamond-encrusted Super Bowl ring.

Early in his career, Peyton was considered an unrivaled talent on the field, but a corny bore off of it. After a couple of hilarious commercials and a phenomenal appearance on Saturday Night Live, the public found out the three-time NFL MVP was also a pretty funny guy who wasn’t afraid to laugh at himself.

He’s had a pretty good 2009: He threw for over 4,000 yards, earned his third NFL Most Valuable Player Award (putting him in a tie with Brett Favre for the record), watched younger brother Eli Manning win his first Super Bowl in January and raised millions for his Peyback Foundation. The guy clearly has his fingers in a lot of pies, but we’re sure he’d be willing to take any of them out to slip on another Super Bowl ring.