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Fifteen NFL players made it onto Sports Illustrated’s Fortunate 50 list of the highest-paid American athletes, and they’re a pretty weird group.  There’s two brothers near the top, two Redskins, four second-year guys with weird contracts, six quarterbacks and eight guys who didn’t make the playoffs in 2009.  Peyton Manning is the highest-paid NFL player, but his total earnings rank only 17th among the world’s highest-paid athletes and 9th among American athletes.

The athletes who made more than Peyton Manning include four NBA players, three MLB players, three soccer players, two golfers, two boxers, a tennis player, and a race car driver.

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Peyton Manning is also making more than twice as much in endorsements as any other NFL player — his $15 million in estimated 2010 endorsement money is nearly half his $30.8 million in total earnings.  Peyton’s brother Eli and Brett Favre both will make $7 million from endorsements in 2010 — and are the only other NFL players on the Fortunate 50 list who get over $1 million from endorsements.  Only three other NFL players on the list make even $500,000 from endorsements.

Here’s the NFL’s Top 15 (if you didn’t follow the 2009 Draft real close, you might not have even heard of some of these guys):

1. QB Peyton Manning, Colts $30.8 million total earnings (9th among US athletes, $15.8m salary/$15m endorsements)
2. QB Matthew Stafford, Lions $27.6m (11, $26.9m/$0.7m)
3. QB Eli Manning, Giants $26.5m (T13, $19.5m/$7m)
4. QB Philip Rivers, Chargers $25.8m (17, $25.6m/$0.2m)
5. LB Terrell Suggs, Ravens $24.9m (19, $24.9m/$0.0m)
6. DL Albert Haynesworth, Redskins $24.6m (20, $24.6m/$0.1m)
7. QB Brett Favre, Vikings $24m (21, $17m/$7m)
8. WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders $21.5m (28, $21.4m/$0.0m)
9. RT Jason Smith, Rams $20.6m (33, $20.5m/$0.0m)
10. DE Julius Peppers, Bears $20m (36, $20m/$0.0m)
11. NT Vince Wilfork, Patriots $18.9m (38, $18.9m/$0.0m)
12. CB DeAngelo Hall, Redskins $18.5m (40, $18.5m/$0.0m)
13. DE Tyson Jackson, Chiefs $18.1m (42, $18.1m/$0.0m)
14. QB Mark Sanchez, Jets $16.9m (48, $16.4m/$0.5m)
15. LB DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys $16.8m (49, $16m/$0.8m)