Peyton Manning once drove through the night to recruit Randy Moss for UT

Peyton Manning to Randy Moss was a dream connection for most NFL fans, but it never came close to being a reality.

But, while Manning and Moss' professional careers didn't intertwine, they nearly became teammates at the collegiate level.

On UTSports.com's signing day show on Wednesday, Manning recalled the lengths he took to try to recruit Moss to the Vols.

"I had a pretty good percentage, but I remember the one that I missed on," Manning said, according to Daniel Lewis of rockytopinsider.com. "I was dating my wife, my girlfriend at the time, Ashley, who went to the University of Virginia. I was on a weekend with her up in Charlottesville. Coach Fulmer - and this was before cell phones, nobody's going to even know what I'm talking about - he called by answering phone at my house.

"I call the voicemail at my house, or apartment, in Knoxville, checked the voicemail, and Coach Fulmer said, 'Hey Peyton, we have one of the best receivers ever coming, you've gotta come back and watch the basketball game with this kid, he's unbelievable.' His name was Randy Moss. I drove all the way back in the middle of the night, gave him my best shot, didn't work out."

Moss ultimately opted to go to Notre Dame before transferring to Florida State and then ending his career at Marshall after drug-related issues, leaving us all to wonder what accomplishments he and Manning would have achieved together at Tennessee.