NASHVILLE Josh Oliver Jersey , Tenn. (AP) — NFL MVPs among the string of awards and honors to his credit, calls his decision to attend the University of Tennessee one of the best he’s ever made.That makes being inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday night along with a handful of fellow Volunteers and David Cutcliffe, his former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, even more memorable.“It’s very special,” Manning said. “I was proud to have played at the University of Tennessee for four years and you go into the NFL, you kind of carry your alma mater with you and have wonderful support from friends, teammates, coaches throughout my career. … So to be honored and have a chance to reflect on my time in college and all the relationships and memories, it’s been very special.”Manning was being inducted along with a group including Cutcliffe, now the head coach at Duke; Kara Lawson, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist who played for Pat Summitt and is now a TV analyst; Charles Davis, a four-year starter at safety and now a Fox game analyst; and Kippy Brown, a former Tennessee coach who also coached seven NFL teams.A Louisiana native, Manning also was inducted into that state’s sports hall of fame earlier this year. Manning not only chose to attend Tennessee rather than father Archie’s alma mater, Mississippi, but the quarterback endeared himself to Volunteers’ fans for deciding to return and play his senior season in Knoxville in 1997.Even after Manning left college http://www.jaguarscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-quincy-williams-ii-jersey , he continued his relationship with Cutcliffe, the man the quarterback turned to even during his career in the NFL where Manning was a 14-time Pro Bowl pick and the first starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different teams.“I would go back and work out with him in the offseason, and he would stay on top of my mechanics and fundamentals and of course a great friend throughout that process as well, so very special … to be inducted in the same class as Coach Cut,” Manning said.Cutcliffe called Manning one of the special people in his life.“How lucky can you be to get to basically coach Peyton for 22 years?” Cutcliffe said. “That’s good enough there. I could’ve retired right then. It’s just been fun. … I think the thing that’s most rewarding is that Peyton is such a dedicated individual when it comes to his trade. If you’re going to work with him, you better get better. And Peyton Manning made me better.”Another inductee didn’t play at Tennessee, but Patrick Willis got to try to tackle Manning in the NFL. The former San Francisco 49ers linebacker said he was grateful to be honored as part of what he called an amazing class. And yes, it’s easier when not trying to defend Manning on a field.“He’s a genius on the field and off the field,” Willis said. “Obviously, on the field, he’s a general and yeah it’s an honor to have played against him and to be going into the Hall of Fame with him.”Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk also was being honored Saturday night as the 2019 Tennessean of the Year, a big honor for someone who had fans questioning her commitment to Nashville and the state when she took charge of the team in March 2015. Strunk helped Nashville host the NFL draft in April, an event that drew a record 600,000 fans.Strunk said she hope she’s answered any questions about herself after what’s been a whirlwind the past four years. Posing for photos alongside Manning, whom her late father tried to sign in 2012, left her a little bit in awe.“I’m happy to be part of the group,” Strunk said. NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Maccagnan helped lead the Jets‘ coaching search this offseason Ryquell Armstead Jersey , spent big money in free agency and oversaw the team’s draft.Now, stunningly, he’s out as New York’s general manager.Team chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson announced the decision to fire Maccagnan in a statement posted Wednesday on the team’s Twitter account.“It was a decision that evolved,” Johnson said during a conference call a few hours after the announcement. “And it took a while and maybe I was slow with that decision, but I finally came to it in the last few days.”Coach Adam Gase will serve as the acting general manager while the Jets search for a replacement. He wasted no time in his new role, trading linebacker Darron Lee to Kansas City for a sixth-round draft pick, pending a physical, according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team had announced the move late Wednesday night.ESPN reported that Brian Heimerdinger, the Jets’ vice president of player personnel, also was fired.Maccagnan had long been on the hot seat, so the move itself isn’t necessarily a shocker. The timing, however, is particularly surprising because Maccagnan ran the Jets’ draft less than three weeks ago, including taking defensive tackle Quinnen Williams with the No. 3 overall pick.“There’s never a good time to make a decision like this, honestly,” Johnson said. “But it’s a process.”That included Johnson deciding to “get deeply embedded” in the organization’s football operations by taking what he called a “deeper dive” this offseason.“I was part of a lot of discussions about the free agents and sat in on dozens of interviews with the guys at the combine and sat in on scouting meetings and watched this process,” Johnson said. “I understood more fully Mike’s role in this building and what I’m hoping for in our future GM.”Johnson emphasized he wants “a strategic thinker” and added that “it’s more than a talent evaluation guy.” He also said he wants “a great manager http://www.jaguarscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-gardner-minshew-ii-jersey , a communicator — someone who can collaborate well with the building.”There were reports during the last several weeks that there was tension between Maccagnan and Gase — which both denied.“This had nothing to do with Adam,” Johnson insisted. “I mean, I want good give-and-take between our GM and the coach. This was not one person or another winning a power struggle. This was completely my decision.”Maccagnan, who was hired as GM in 2015, had two years remaining on his contract after getting an extension at the end of the 2017 season. He was not relieved of his duties this past offseason when coach Todd Bowles was fired — leading many to assume that Maccagnan’s job was not in immediate jeopardy.“The more I looked, the more I realized that I wanted to move on,” Johnson said while refusing to go into specifics.Maccagnan was fully involved in the coaching search and hiring of Gase. He also was active in free agency, spending more than $125 million to land the likes of running back Le’Veon Bell , linebacker C.J. Mosley and wide receiver Jamison Crowder. He also acquired left guard Kelechi Osemele from Oakland in a trade.The Jets also have what they believe is a franchise quarterback in Sam Darnold, who was the third overall pick in last year’s draft after Maccagnan engineered a deal with Indianapolis to move up from the No. 6 spot. Safety Jamal Adams and defensive lineman Leonard Williams are also recent draft picks by Maccagnan who have become building blocks for the defense. Starting wide receiver Robby Anderson was also a terrific find as an undrafted free agent in 2016.But Maccagnan’s draft history since coming to New York after 15 years in various scouting positions with the Houston Texans is otherwise shaky, at best.Only 11 of the 22 players selected in his first three years are still on New York’s roster. The first-rounders have been starters — Adams (2017), Lee (2016) and Williams (2015) — but Lee became expendable with the Jets having Mosley and Avery Williamson at the inside linebacker spots.Several other early round picks have been busts. Second-rounders Devin Smith (2015) and Christian Hackenberg (2016), and third-rounders Lorenzo Mauldin (2015) and ArDarius Stewart (2017) are all out of the league.And now, the Jets will move forward with someone else making the personnel decisions. Johnson said Gase will “assist” in the search.Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas is believed to be a primary candidate to replace Maccagnan. Douglas and Gase have a previous working relationship: Douglas was Chicago’s director of college scouting in 2015, when Gase was the Bears’ offensive coordinator.In the meantime, Gase will oversee all roster moves as the Jets enter the next phase of the offseason with organized team activities set to begin next week. During his three seasons as coach of the Dolphins, Gase had final say on personnel decisions. He’ll now have the same authority with the Jets — at least until they hire a general manager.When he was introduced as New York’s coach in January Marquise Brown Jersey , Gase downplayed his power, saying it was “just kind of how it worked out in Miami” and that he “didn’t even ask” for a similar setup when the Jets hired him.In New York, the coach and general manager report directly to Johnson, a unique structure in the NFL. Most teams have the coach report directly to the GM, who then reports to the owner. Johnson, however, has insisted that that’s the structure he believes works best and will remain in place when the Jets hire Maccagnan’s replacement.Under Maccagnan, the Jets were 24-40 with no playoff appearances in four seasons. The team’s only winning season in that span came in the first year for Maccagnan and Bowles in 2015, when New York was 10-6 but fell a win short of making the postseason.“I think that by diving deep in the organization, I had a better idea of what was wrong and where I wanted to head with this,” Johnson said. “This is a long-term plan. We’re trying to win football games. And, I just felt we had to have a new GM to help us do that.”