Manning's presence has drawn the largest crowd ever to watch a Denver Broncos practice game.
One look at the stands inside Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and it had the look of a game day.
A record scrimmage attendance of 41,304 came out to see the Broncos, headed by Peyton Manning.
Compare that crowd to a Broncos regular season game that drew an average 75,000 fans.
Then there's the Cincinnati Bengals, who only averaged a crowd of 49,000 all last season.
Perhaps the only other scrimmage out-doing the Broncos this weekend is the Green Bay Packers, where they sold out nearly 70,000 $10 tickets for fans to see their green and gold inside Lambeau Field on Friday night.
Broncos fans were already in game mode on Saturday afternoon.
"I brought him to his first game when he was 3," Marc Morelli, said while pointing to his 10 year-old son, Luke.
Marc and Luke got to the stadium hours before the scrimmage was set to begin. They endured long lines and hot temps.
"We wanted to get here early because we figured if 5,000 people are showing up on a Tuesday or a Thursday practice how many people are going to be here tonight?" Marc asked.
The old scrimmage record of nearly 21,000 was shattered.
"Peyton Manning, how much better does it get? Top 5 quarterback in the NFL. Looking forward to this season a lot. I always enjoyed Tebow, but Peyton is Peyton. There's nothing wrong with his neck, nothing wrong with his arm, he's playing pretty well there's no doubt about it," Marc said.
Just like dad, Luke shows off his Broncos pride.
"I got them on the 31st," Luke said while pointing to his blue and orange braces.
"Because I'm a diehard Broncos fan," Luke added.
"I think this is the greatest idea they've had to have practice here. A lot of folks aren't able to come to a game, and this is as close as they're going to get to a game, I think it's excellent," Marc said.
Marc thinks the team will go 10 and 6 this year, and win at least one playoff game. His son Luke is a bit more optimistic, he's thinking 12 and 4 and a few playoff wins.
Whatever the Broncos record, based on the fans at Saturday's scrimmage, attendance will most likely not be an issue this year.
Manning's presence has drawn the largest crowd ever to watch a Denver Broncos practice game.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)