Peyton Manning officially announced his retirement from the NFL on March 7th, and he held a press conference with his most recent team, the Denver Broncos, when he did so.
Today, it was time for the team that drafted him to celebrate his achievements.
The Indianapolis Colts held a press conference with owner and CEO Jim Irsay and Peyton Manning on Friday to celebrate Manning’s 14 years with the Colts and to make several announcements.
One of the two major announcements Irsay shared was the plan to erect a statue of Peyton outside of Lucas Oil Stadium.
What do you think #ColtsNation? #ThankYouPeyton pic.twitter.com/9s5wViQRO2
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) March 18, 2016
The other major announcement was that Manning’s No. 18 jersey will be retired for the Colts, becoming the franchise’s eighth jersey number to be retired.
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
And like his press conference with the Broncos, Peyton shared some memories and stories of his time with the Colts.
The Colts drafted Manning No. 1 overall in the 1998 NFL draft once he finished his four years with the Vols, and he went on to break several franchise and NFL records while with the Colts.
Peyton Manning totaled 399 passing touchdowns and 54,828 passing yards in his 13 seasons he was on the field for the Colts (he missed the entire 2011 season with injury). Manning helped lead the Colts to two Super Bowl appearances and won Super Bowl XLI with the franchise.
