Denver Bronco’s Quarterback Peyton Manning Tracks Down His Biggest Fan

Next time you decide to write to your favorite sports hero, make sure to leave your contact information in the letter… or maybe not! Kristen Patterson wrote Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning a letter on September 21 requesting a chance to meet, writing that her husband, Army Sgt. Ryan Patterson, was Manning’s biggest fan and that during his two tours in Afghanistan, he would even set his alarm for the middle of the night, just to listen to Manning’s football games, as reported by New York Daily News.

Peyton Manning receives many fan letters, so when he read Kristen’s and her request to meet her husband, Manning wanted to fulfill her wish but there was one big problem. Kristen had forgot to include her contact information. Not one to give up so quickly, Manning requested the Broncos’ public relations team track her down.

The couple and their 10-month old daughter, Olivia, had recently moved 3,950 miles from where they were stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to Fort Wainwright in North Pole, Alaska. It took three months but the Broncos tracked down Patterson’s phone number through the utility company in North Pole. The company contacted the state troopers, who called Kristen Patterson.

“When I got a call from the Alaska State Trooper, they asked if I wrote a letter to Peyton Manning,” Patterson said, adding that she was confused at first. “They said the Denver Broncos were trying to get a hold of me. When I sent it, you never know if someone is going to read it or if it is going to be tossed in a pile. So I thought they never read it, no big deal.”

A state trooper called Ryan Patterson’s phone and asked for his wife. To keep the meeting a surprise, Kristen told her husband it was about a K-9 police dog demonstration for the school where she worked. She later spoke to the Broncos, setting up a meeting with Manning on Dec. 21 at the hotel the team was staying at in the Cincinnati area.

According to the Indy Star, when they arrived in Cincinnati, she convinced her husband they were going to dinner with a friend, but he realized something when they arrived at the Broncos’ team hotel. “I was trying to keep it as a surprise, but I’m a horrible liar and I couldn’t think of a reason why we would be going to a hotel,” she said. “It would have been really hard to keep it a secret plus he needed time to process everything.”

The hotel lobby was full of Broncos fans. Ryan Patterson’s initial thought was he would be among many to receive autographs and vying to snap a quick photo and hello. Instead, the family was taken up an escalator to a private conference room.

“The team’s flight was delayed, so I was pacing the room like I was expecting a child. I saw Manning come up the escalator and my first reaction was ‘he is at least 15 feet tall, if not taller,'” said Ryan Patterson, who had a picture taken with Manning and received an autographed football. “Peyton introduced himself, asked my daughter’s name and played with her for a second and thanked me for my service.”

The Pattersons described Manning as personable, approachable and, above all else, genuine.

“He seemed genuinely tickled that we lived in North Pole, Alaska. He said, ‘You guys are really hard to find,'” Patterson said. “Before he left he shook my hand and thanked me for my service one more time and I thanked him for being my quarterback.” Ryan also stated that, “Kristen enjoyed the fact that she is the greatest wife ever and there was nothing I could ever do to top this… If you asked me who is the one person, anybody in the world, I want to meet, I would immediately say Peyton Manning and she made that happen.”

Read Kristen’s letter to Peyton Manning below.

“Dear Mr. Manning,”

“My name is Kristen Patterson. I am writing to ask a question. You see my husband is a HUGE fan, and when I say HUGE I mean it. He is currently serving our country in the United States Army and has deployed twice to Afghanistan. He would set alarms to wake up at odd hours in the night just to listen to your football games. We recently had to move across the country for the Army and he tried to get us stationed in Colorado just so he could ensure that he would never miss your games.”

“We will be attending the Bengals vs. Broncos game on December 22, 2014, while home for the holidays, and it would mean so much to my husband if you might be able to find the time to just even say hello, not to mention it would make me to coolest wife ever of all time. I know you are a busy man, and if you can’t, it will be ok. I just thought I might ask in the rare chance that you might agree to this.”

“Thank you for taking the time to read this.”

“Sincerely,”
“Kristen Patterson”

Peyton Manning is an all around good guy who reads his fan mail, will pose for pictures with fans, and is also known as a great tipper, as reported by The Inquisitr. Read a story about one of Manning’s generous tip to waiter and what happened next.