Peyton Manning to own 21 Papa John's locations

Peyton Manning's wife recently entered the NBA ownership business. Now Peyton is entering the pizza business.

Manning signed a deal to open 21 Papa John's locations in the Denver area, the Associated Press reports.

"It's a smart investment now and will be long after I'm done playing football," Manning said.

Manning has worked with Papa John's in the past. In February, he participated in the Super Bowl XLVI Coin Toss Experience promotion. More recently, he has starred in a Papa John's commercial trying to get CEO John Schnatter to give away two million pizzas.

"He's the kind of partner we're looking for, not only in marketing but in business," Papa John's chief marketing officer Andrew Varga said of Manning.

"The pizza category is fun. Our founder has fun when he gets into the commercials," Varga said. "You throw Peyton into that mix with the NFL platform and it makes it easy to execute lighthearted commercials that are very much in character for both."

Contributing: The Associated Press