Report: Peyton Manning's charity foundation endows scholarships at six HBCU's including Fisk, TSU

(WSMV) - Peyton Manning's charity foundation, Peyback, has endowed six scholarships at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in Louisiana and Tennessee, according to an ESPN report on Sunday.

Chris Mortensen, of ESPN, said Doug Williams found out about the scholarships when one of them was anonymously named in his honor at his alma mater, Grambling State University. 

Williams, the first Black quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl, was able to reveal that the anonymous donor was Manning's Peyback Foundation. 

Peyton Manning played collegiate football at the University of Tennessee. His charity foundation was founded in 19999 by him and his wife, Ashley.

Here's a list of the endowed scholarships, according to ESPN's report: 

• Grambling State University (Grambling, Louisiana) for Doug Williams.
• Southern University (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) for Harold Carmichael, a former Philadelphia Eagles receiver and 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.
• Tennessee State University (Nashville, Tennessee) for Wilma Rudolph, a sprinter who was the first woman to ever win three gold medals in the Olympics in 1960. Rudolph died from cancer in 1994.
• Fisk University (Nashville, Tennessee) for the late Dr. Reavis L. Mitchell Jr., a 40-year history professor who was frequently consulted on African American heritage and often cited in publications and documentaries.
• Xavier University of Louisiana (in New Orleans) for Dr. Norman Francis, the school's president since 1968 who received a presidential medal of freedom in 2006 for his efforts planning the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans and surrounding areas after Hurricane Katrina.
• Dillard University in New Orleans, for Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund since 2004 and a former university president.

Chris Mortensen's article says Manning declined to speak about his personal involvement but sent this message: 

The Peyback Foundation is honored to partner with these six colleges to honor distinguished Alumni and staff members, and to help college students at these schools now and many years to come. Really, for perpetuity.

Read ESPN's full report here: "Peyton Manning Charity foundation endows scholarships at six Historically Black Colleges and Universities"