The Indianapolis Colts are retiring the jersey number of Peyton Manning, who spent his first 14 seasons with the team while winning a Super Bowl championship.
When Peyton Manning was first let go by the Indianapolis Colts in the spring of 2012, it was done on good terms between Manning and Colts owner Jim Irsay. At that press conference four years ago, Irsay said he didn’t envision any player in the future wearing Manning’s old jersey number of 18.
Fast forward to Friday and that became a reality. The Indianapolis Colts held a press conference that was attended by Irsay and Manning to announce that the team will be retiring that number this season:
No future Colt will ever wear the number 18. Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts jersey is officially retired. pic.twitter.com/z893Fsb4eg
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) March 18, 2016
Irsay also announced that in addition to the honor of retiring his jersey, the Indianapolis Colts will be putting a statue out from of Lucas Oil Stadium to honor the man who led them to two Super Bowl appearances in his time with the team, winning Super Bowl XLI to finish the 2006 season:
"We are going to begin construction of a statue outside Lucas Oil Stadium that will feature Peyton." -@JimIrsay https://t.co/HuAQOs4MSs
— NFL (@NFL) March 18, 2016
Manning was emotional during his time at the podium, thanking Indianapolis Colts fans for their support and remembering the moments he had with the team. Manning said he was truly honored to be with the team for so long:
"I'll always be a Colt." - Peyton Manning https://t.co/3EHwJG57bS
— NFL (@NFL) March 18, 2016
Manning retired earlier this month after four seasons with the Denver Broncos, where he made it to two more Super Bowls and finished his career with a victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
Manning won four of his five MVP awards while a member of the Indianapolis Colts, throwing for under 4,000 yards just twice in his 13 seasons on the field with the team.
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