Welcome to the NFL 100, The Athletics endeavor to identify the 100 best players in football history. Every day until the season begins, well unveil new members of the list, with the No. 1 player to be crowned on Wednesday, Sept. 8.

During the spring of 2012, Peyton Manning was trying to work his way back from a neck injury that sidelined him for the 2011 NFL season and was several weeks into his on-field training program at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

At the time, Manning was 12 years into his NFL career and a four-time NFL MVP. But at that moment, his future hung in the balance.

The spinal fusion procedure Manning underwent the previous September was his third neck surgery in 19 months and the riskiest and most complicated of the three. The Indianapolis Colts, the only team Manning had played for since being drafted with the first pick in 1998, had made it known they planned to release him. But before Manning could find another team, he first had to regain his old form, which was not assured given the severity of his injury.

Manning was at Duke because of David Cutcliffe, the Blue Devils head football coach. Cutcliffe knew Manning as well as anyone, having coached him for four years as the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee. One of the most respected quarterback coaches in the nation, Cutcliffe was a longtime friend and trusted confidante of the Manning family.

For the first two months of 2012, Cutcliffe rebuilt Mannings game from scratch. He sent him through hour after hour of fundamental drills, catching shotgun snaps, taking snaps from center, handoff drills and footwork. Day by day, throw by throw, Manning gradually started to regain his form.

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NFL 100: At No. 7, Peyton Manning, the QB with the gridiron supercomputer in his head - The Athletic