Who is legendary quarterback Peyton Manning’s wife, Ashley Thompson? They married on St Patrick’s Day in 2001, and she’s a mother of twins and a minority owner of NBA team the Memphis Grizzlies
Peyton Manning was quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos before retiring in 2016 – but what do we know about wife Ashley Thompson, whom he met before he even started university?
Peyton Manning’s quarterback days may be behind him, but there was a time when he was making headlines at just 17 for being an up-and-coming star in American football.
Through his long career in American football, one person never left Manning’s side: Ashley Thompson, whom he met the summer before his first year at the University of Tennessee. “With all her qualities, I think what pleased me most about Ashley, though, was that she liked me for who I was, not what I was,” he admitted in his book, written with his father Archie, Manning: A Father, His Sons and A Football Legacy.
But just who is Ashley Thompson, Manning’s long-time wife?
How did Peyton Manning meet his wife, Ashley Thompson?
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Thompson, 50, was a student at the University of Virginia when she met Manning. Back home in Tennessee for the summer of 1993, she was introduced to him by her parents’ next-door neighbour.
“It was in August, at one of the few fraternity parties I went to,” Manning, 48, recalled in his book. “We were introduced and only talked a little while. I didn’t make a big first impression (she said later my pastel shirt was a turn-off), but I was certainly impressed.”
When Thompson returned to Virginia, the couple dated long-distance. Manning mentioned her time at UVA during a speech at the university’s Class of 2014 graduation ceremony.
“While dating my wife, Ashley, a 1997 UVA grad, I spent a good amount of time here in Charlottesville,” Manning said, as reported by People. “My wife, Ashley, is the smartest person I know and I know a lot of that has to do with her four years here at UVA.”