Colts owner Jim Irsay held a press conference with Peyton Manning earlier today, where he revealed the Colts plans to not only retire Manning’s number 18 jersey but to also construct a statue of Manning outside of Lucas Oil Field. Considering what Peyton did for the franchise and the city of Indianapolis as a whole, it’s only right they recognize his legacy in this way.
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Irsay announced the statue and then joked that fans in the future could leave their beer cans there. There seemed to be a great deal of love in the room and no sign of any animosity between Peyton and the owner of his former team.
"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
.@Colts owner @JimIrsay gets emotional while announcing the retirement of Peyton Manning's No. 18 jersey.https://t.co/07oujI4PEQ
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) March 18, 2016
Peyton as always had full control of the crowd when he spoke, recalling his first on field memory as a Colt. A touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison, which was the first of many between the record breaking duo.
Peyton Manning recounts his first TD pass with the @Colts in a preseason game. https://t.co/aY0M3kiI0l
— NFL (@NFL) March 18, 2016
I’m sure everyone involved with the Colts wishes the Peyton era produced more rings but there is no denying now prolific his era in Indianapolis really was.