Peyton Manning Tracks Down Faithful Fan

Peyton Manning surely gets tons of requests to meet with fans, but this one required going a little above and beyond. In September, Kristen Patterson of North Pole, Alaska, wrote to Manning to request a meeting for her Army sergeant husband, Ryan, who was a huge fan. (He would listen to games in the middle of the night in Afghanistan.) Patterson mentioned they'd be going to a Broncos game while home for the holidays in Cincinnati, the Indianapolis Star explains. Manning was evidently moved by the request, but Patterson failed to leave any contact info in the letter.

It took some sleuthing, but the Broncos' PR team tracked her down in Alaska with the help of the local utility company and state troopers. And once in Cincinnati, she was able to bring Ryan and their young daughter to the team hotel for a surprise private meeting with Manning. "He said, 'You guys are really hard to find,'" recalls Ryan. "Before he left he shook my hand and thanked me for my service one more time and I thanked him for being my quarterback." (The Star has a photo of the meeting.)