'Dear Peyton' Tribute Thanks The QB Who Spent So Much Time Honoring Others

Peyton Manning: one of the NFL's all-time best quarterbacks, and apparently a pretty good pen-pal, too.

That's judging from "Dear Peyton," a commercial set to air Thursday during the NFL draft, which features recipients of letters from the former Broncos QB reading them aloud.

The touching two-minute spot includes everyone from former teammates and coaches to notable sports figures like former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Peyton's brother, Eli, and father, Archie, also make an appearance, as does Pam Frenzel, whose son was treated for cancer at the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital.

"This is a letter my husband and I received after our son Tyler died," Frenzel says, tenderly holding the piece of paper.

Others chime in:

"This is the letter I got the year that I retired."

"After I was drafted."

"This is what Peyton wrote to me right before the Super Bowl."

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2013, Manning credited his mother with starting him writing thank-you notes as a kid, a tradition he's continued ever since.

Fittingly, many of those countless letters have been addressed to recently retired NFL players, a position in which Manning now finds himself.

Dear Peyton, Thank you.