Turning It Around—Quickly

Sporting News, The, Nov 29, 1999

> If the Colts continue to win, Peyton Manning has a chance to raise his regular-season record as a starter to the .500 mark. Pretty heady stuff since Manning entered the '99 season with a 3-13 mark. Here's a look at the five most recent quarterbacks who were first overall picks in the draft (minus rookie Tim Couch) and how long it took each to reach the .500 mark, As you can see, some are still waiting.

RECORD AS A REGULAR-SEASON STARTER

                         Rookie    Reached        Career
QB (rookie year)         season   .500 mark    W-L-T (pct.)


Peyton Manning ('98)      3-13      1999      10-15-0 (.400)
Drew Bledsoe ('93)        6-7       1994      56-42-0 (.571)
Jeff George ('90)         5-7        N/A      41-70-0 (.369)
Troy Aikman ('89)         0-11      1992      87-61-0 (.588)
Vinny Testaverde ('87)    0-4        N/A      60-85-1 (.414)