Peyton Manning to announce retirement on Monday

After a month of speculation about what Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning would do and after reports indicated he wanted to play but was unsure if it was the right decision, it seem we've finally reached an end: according to multiple reports (first by ESPN's Chris Mortensen), Manning will announce his press conference on Monday at Broncos headquarters after 18 seasons in the NFL.

Manning retires as one of the very best to ever play the game of football, as he is surely headed to Canton as a first ballot Hall of Famer in exactly five years.  He's the league's only five-time MVP, has numerous records, has appeared in four Super Bowls, and won two.  He started 265 games and completed 65.3% of his passes for 71,950 yards (7.7 yards per attempt), 539 touchdowns, and 251 interceptions for a rating of 96.5, finishing as the all-time leader in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.  In addition to his five MVP awards, he also made 14 Pro Bowls, was a seven-time first-team All-Pro, was a two-time Offensive Player of the Year, and was the Comeback Player of the Year in 2012 after returning from a very serious neck injury.

The bulk of Manning's career was, obviously, spent in Indianapolis, where he took the Colts from a team perennially in the basement of the NFL to a team that contended for the Super Bowl every year.  Spending 14 seasons in Indianapolis, Manning holds nearly every significant Colts franchise passing record, including yards, touchdowns, completions, and attempts.  He will go down as the best player to wear the horseshoe, and he'll be inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor as soon as possible while his number 18 is already unofficially retired by the team (Jim Irsay said no Colts player will wear it again).

Congrats to Peyton Manning on being able to ride off into the sunset.  He will announce his retirement exactly four years to the day of when he was released by the Colts amidst uncertainty with his neck injury, and he wanted another shot at the Super Bowl.  The Broncos gave him that, and he gets the chance to ride off into the sunset as a Super Bowl champion.  Congrats, Peyton, for all the memories and for a heck of a career.

UPDATE: The Broncos have confirmed it: Manning is retiring.