At halftime during the Broncos game against the Washington Football Team, Peyton Manning became the 35th individual to have his name unveiled in the Broncos Ring of Fame. He was awarded the Ring of Fame pillar and proudly accepted his orange Ring of Fame jacket. To get a ring of fame, you truly have to be amazing at your job, and Manning was just that. With a PCT of 65.3, 71,940 yards run, 539 touchdowns, and a rate of 96.5, Peyton Manning absolutely deserves this prestigious ring. Not only did he do all of those amazing things but he did more, he won MVP Honors, set the single-season passing touchdown mark in 2013, and led the team in two Superbowl appearances.

Before Manning was even a Bronco and played for the Indiana Colts he remembered looking up into the stands taking note of the players whose names were around the stadium. “Every time I played here with the Colts, I was always looking up. There’s a lot of Ring of Famers up there. It tells you how many great players they’ve had here. … Tom Jackson, Craig Morton.” 

The Colts Decide to Trade Manning 

Out with an injury for the whole 2011 season, the Colts decided they no longer wanted him so he had to look for other places to go. He remembered football no longer being fun in that period of his life. 

Denver was always a big option for him as he knew quite a bit of people here. He already knew the coach at the time John Fox and president of operations John Elway. While exploring his potential options he decided to have a sit down with Elway where he said what his vision was for him being on the team. He also heard about what the coach had in store for the upcoming draft. This gave him a very good impression of Denver and he decided that’s where he wanted to be. In an interview he said, “A couple weeks later, I made the decision to come here. Best decision I ever made. Football was fun again. It was fun to get back into an NFL team and Coach Fox and just his positive attitude made football fun again for me.”

Even though he’s had his most success in Denver, he will never forget his experiences with the Colts and attributes some of his success to them. In his speech during the ceremony he stated,  “I am extremely honored to have been a part of two organizations, to be a part of two world champion teams and two different organizations.” Even though he talked a little bit about his time with the Colts his main focus was on the Broncos. “It’s a great honor and this week has really been a time to reflect on my four years in Denver… This week has been all about remembering my four years in Denver and kind of how it all came about. It was quite an ordeal — that free agency, that kind of frenzy, if you will. It was so nice to make a decision, come out here, get settled and go back to work … I couldn’t have made a better decision. It was an awesome four-year run.” 

After the Ceremony 

After being added to the team’s Ring of Fame Manning took off his jacket and put on a Number 18 jersey. A fun fact about this jersey is that it was actually borrowed from a fan in the stands as Manning didn’t have one with him.  After borrowing the jersey, he went to the 30-yard-line and completed a touchdown pass to former teammate Brandon Stokley. After throwing the pass he gave the jersey back to the fan and signed it for him. 

Peyton Manning’s time in Denver will never be forgotten as he is one of the greats. You will always see number 18 on an orange and blue jersey when you’re at the game or even just walking around town. Manning has made a true impact in Colorado and for future generations of NFL stars to come.