Peyton Manning
Ashley Thompson, the wife of Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, talked him out of retiring from football in 2011. Above, the athlete is pictured Jan. 24, 2016. Reuters

The spotlight is on Peyton Manning once again as the NFL quarterback brings the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl 50 where they will take on the Carolina Panthers. But he’s not the only person people are going to be looking at. Viewers might also be interested in Ashley Thompson, Manning’s wife of more than a decade.

1. They have been married nearly 15 years. Thompson and Manning tied the knot on St. Patrick’s Day in 2001.

2. They met before Manning’s freshman year at the University of Tennessee. A neighbor thought Thompson and Manning would be “perfect for each other,” a profile in Indianapolis Woman Magazine from 2006 read, as per the Heavy. Her first impression of Manning was he seemed genuine.

3. They have two children together, fraternal twins Marshall and Mosley. She is notoriously private about her personal life and didn’t want to talk about their birth in 2011 to the Indianapolis Star. “We value or privacy and would appreciate you not putting this in the paper or online,” she said, according to the Heavy.

4. Thompson talked Manning out or retirement. She convinced him to continue playing in the NFL, even after multiple surgeries and the end of his career with the Indianapolis Colts. “Ashley was the one that was saying, ‘Peyton, you’ve got to try. You’ve got to try.'” Peyton told Sports Illustrated’s Peter King. “Once I did it, I was going at it, and then I started seeing a little bit of light there. So, yeah, she was the one who kind of pushed me through it.” He later signed with the Denver Broncos.

5. She owns part of an NBA team. She became a minority owner of her hometown’s basketball team, the Memphis Grizzlies, in 2012, according to the Denver Post. She shares the team with the likes of pop star Justin Timberlake, Penny Hardaway and former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.

Super Bowl 50 will be broadcast live Sunday, Feb. 7 on CBS from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Kickoff time is 6:30 p.m., EST.

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