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Five-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning provided a moving tribute at the NFL Honors show on Saturday to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the seven others who died in a helicopter crash Sunday in Calabasas, California.
John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; Sarah and Payton Chester; Christina Mauser; and Ara Zobayan also died in the crash.
Manning told the audience that he first crossed paths with Bryant in 1999.
Bryant was a few years into an NBA career that began three years earlier, and the former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos signal-caller was just starting out after the Colts took him first overall in the 1998 NFL draft.