Imagine if you shared the same name with the most popular NFL player in whatever city you live in. Now, imagine that NFL player is a Hall of Fame lock, and one of the most popular athletes in the country.

Such is life for 8th grader Peyton Manning in Littleton, Colorado. He plays hockey. And loves sharing the same name as the Broncos’ QB. Young Manning told the Denver Post:

“In my room I’ve got a Fathead of him, his rookie card and posters everywhere. He’s my favorite professional football player and having the same name as him brings a cool kind of attention. It’s not like everybody always talks about it, but when they do I like it. He’s one of the most class guys out there, so it’s cool, for sure.”

I know what you’re thinking: What parents name their kid after a QB? Kim and Mick Manning, enormous college football fans who went to the University of Colorado, made the decision after Peyton Manning, then a junior QB at Tennessee, decided to stay for his senior year.

“I would have never named him Peyton if I knew (the QB) was going to be a legendary football player anywhere, let alone Denver,” Kim Manning said. “We’re not celebrity (starstruck). I just thought it was a great name, and he was full of strength and character. He had a lot of personal attributes you want your son to have. And my son has lived up to it.”

Meet Peyton Manning, hockey-team captain and Littleton eighth-grader [Denver Post via Lindsay Jones; image of young Peyton Manning via the Post]