Colts Plan to Honor Peyton Manning at Team Complex on March 18th
According to WTHR’s Bob Kravitz, the Indianapolis Colts plan on honoring recently retired quarterback Peyton Manning at the team’s complex on March 18th:
This may be out already, but the Colts will honor Manning March 18 at noon at the Colts complex.
— Bob Kravitz (@bkravitz) March 7, 2016
Of course, while Manning retired as a member of the Denver Broncos on Monday, he played the majority of his illustrious career in Indianapolis.
Originally the 1st overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Colts, Manning played 14 magical seasons in Indianapolis, amassing 54,828 passing yards, 4,682 completions, and 399 passing touchdowns.
Manning became a 4x MVP, 11x Pro Bowler, and 5x First-Team All-Pro while wearing horseshoe blue, en route to becoming one of the NFL’s all-time greatest quarterbacks.
The Colts were consistently an NFL juggernaut with Manning under center–highlighted by a 2006 Super Bowl Championship and having made the playoffs in 11 of his 13 active seasons.
It was Manning, along with the likes of Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark among others, who helped form one of the NFL’s all-time most prolific offenses.
Manning with his cerebral approach to the game of football, simply revolutionized the quarterback position–essentially becoming an offensive coordinator behind center and calling his own plays. It was something that was unprecedented at the time, but has assuredly changed the way the position will be played forever.
Not to mention, he took the no-huddle, “2 minute offense” to an uncharted level of efficiency.
Never blessed with the strongest arm or most athleticism, it was Manning’s brain that was his greatest gift–possessing an unparalleled understanding of an opposing defense’s play-calling and tendencies.
If given time in the pocket, Manning was a steady-handed surgeon, highly capable of picking any defense’s secondary apart at its seams.
While many Colts fans were likely hoping that Manning would sign a 1-day contract and retire with Indianapolis, this doesn’t appear to be a bad consolation prize in order to honor the franchise’s greatest player #18.
That may not be the full extent of the “Manning celebrations” however, as it’s been speculated that the Colts franchise could very build a Manning statute outside of Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as it being a foregone conclusion that the latter will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor relatively soon.