Hello. It's Jerry Rice to meet you.

Jerry Rice. The greatest receiver in the history of the NFL got his start at tiny Mississippi Valley State University, just a wee Division I-AA program. He shattered every record in the book at that level, defying the odds and dominating his way to a first round draft selection in 1985.

Peyton Manning. Manning comes from a football family; his father (Archie) and his brother (Eli) both played professionally as well. But it's Peyton who's carved out the greatest legacy. He holds a bunch of records including career touchdowns, touchdowns in a season, and most passing yards in a season. He was drafted first overall out of the University of Tennessee in 1998 and hasn't looked back since. We sure wouldn't.

Charles Woodson. Woodson is the only defensive player ever to have won a Heisman Trophy since the award's inception in 1935. After his time at the University of Michigan, Woodson put together an NFL career worthy of the Hall of Fame and became one of the only players in football history to make the Pro Bowl in three different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s).

Tim Tebow. While his professional career hasn't panned out the way he was probably expecting, Tebow was still one of the greatest college athletes of all time. He led the University of Florida to a pair of NCAA National Championships and won the Heisman Trophy in 2007.

There are plenty of football players who are famous for the wrong reasons as well...but we're going to stick to success stories here.