Peyton Manning, at a recent Broncos practice, is recovering from a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)
Peyton Manning has slipped in recent rankings because of a foot injury that hindered his play and has sidelined him for six games. But the Broncos’ quarterback still ranks among the top five athletes of all time in recent ranking.
According to — as voted online from Sept. 9-17, 2015, by 2,368 U.S. adults 18 and older, as well as oversamples of 511 Hispanic-Americans and 179 Asian-Americans — Manning jumped three spots from 2009 to rank No. 5 among the country’s most-favored athletes of all time.
Sitting above Manning is Michael Jordan, who retained his No. 1 spot; Babe Ruth, who jumped from No. 3 to No. 2, Muhammad Ali, who moved up one spot to No. 3; and Serena Williams, who is new to the list at No. 4.
Joe Montana (6), LeBron James (7), Tiger Woods (8) and Tom Brady (9) and Wayne Gretzky (10) round out the top 10.
Woods saw the largest drop among the top 10, falling seven spots from No. 2 in ’09. Brett Favre (previously No. 5), Ted Williams (previously No. 8) and Hank Williams (previously No. 10) all fell out of the top 10 for 2015.
Despite sitting below Manning in the top 10 athletes overall, Montana received the most votes when fans were asked to name the greatest football player, supplanting Favre for the top spot. Brady ranked No. 2 and Manning came in at No. 3, while the late Walter Payton was fourth and Jim Brown was fifth, taking over Jerry Rice’s spot.
