Colts to honor Peyton Manning in week five with statue unveiling, jersey retirement, and Ring of Honor induction

The greatest player in Indianapolis Colts history will be honored in a huge way this October.

The Colts announced today that in week five, Peyton Manning will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor and will officially have his number 18 jersey retired by the franchise. In addition, that week will see the official unveiling of the statue of Manning that will be a testament to his greatness outside Lucas Oil Stadium.

None of these things are surprised, but it will be awesome to see it happen this year nonetheless. The Ring of Honor and jersey retirement ceremony will happen during halftime of the Colts’ week five game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, October 8. The statue unveiling will happen the previous day, on Saturday, October 7 at 3:00 p.m. on the north plaza outside Lucas Oil.

Manning will be the first player from the Colts’ Indianapolis era to have his uniform number retired and will be the first statue outside of the stadium. Both are incredibly well-deserved for the franchise’s all-time greatest player.

“Peyton will always be a Colt,” owner Jim Irsay said in a statement released by the team. “This will be an event our city, state and Colts fans around the world can celebrate and be proud of.”

Manning also chimed in, saying, "I am humbled, and I am grateful to Jim and the Irsay family for this tremendous honor.”

Manning will join Robert Irsay, Bill Brooks, Ted Marchibroda, Chris Hinton, Jim Harbaugh, Tony Dungy, Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Jeff Saturday, and Bill Polian in the team’s Ring of Honor.

Drafted with the first overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Manning went on to have a brilliant career that will earn him a spot in the Hall of Fame and puts him in the conversation regarding the greatest quarterback of all-time. The vast majority of that production and legacy came during his 14 years in Indianapolis, during which he started 208 games and completed 4,682 of 7,210 passes (64.9%) for 54,828 yards (7.6 yards per attempt), 399 touchdowns, and 198 interceptions for a passer rating of 94.9. He led the Colts to eleven playoff appearances, two AFC titles, and a Super Bowl championship, all the while winning four NFL MVP awards, making eleven Pro Bowls, and earning five first-team All-Pro recognitions (in addition to three second-team All-Pro nods). He holds nearly every significant Colts franchise passing record.