A look at Big Ten players who caught Peyton Manning TD passes

It's official: Future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning has retired.

The former Indianapolis and Denver signal-caller made the announcement Sunday, nearly one month after leading the Broncos to Super Bowl 50.

Manning finishes his career with a laundry list of NFL records, including all-time touchdown passes (539).

For a little fun, and to put a Big Ten perspective on Manning's retirement, let's take a look at the Big Ten names who caught at least one of the quarterback's 539 career scoring strikes.

Dallas Clark (Iowa): 44
Eric Decker (Minnesota): 24
Ken Dilger (Illinois): 7
Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio State): 7
Blair White (Michigan State): 5
Owen Daniels (Wisconsin): 3
Ben Utecht (Minnesota): 2

Lance Ball (Maryland) caught one Manning touchdown pass, as well, but he played for the Terrapins before they entered the Big Ten.

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BY THE NUMBERS
92: TD catches by Big Ten names.
17%: The percentage of Manning's total TD passes to Big Ten names.
7: Number of Big Ten names to catch at least one Manning TD pass.
6: Big Ten teams with at least one player to catch a Manning TD pass.
2: Number of players (Marvin Harrison – 112; Reggie Wayne – 67) who caught more Manning TD passes than Dallas Clark (44).

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One final factoid: Former Michigan State WR Bennie Fowler was on the receiving end of Manning's final NFL "pass."  If you recall, it was Fowler who caught the two-point conversion with 3:08 left in Super Bowl 50. Two-point conversion plays don't count in the stats, however, so Fowler was not credited with a catch.