Peyton Manning Leaves Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said the team is releasing quarterback Peyton Manning after a 14-year run that included one Super Bowl title and four M-V-P awards.
The team needed to cut Manning this week to avoid paying him a $28 million dollar bonus. An emotional Manning delivered a tearful farewell Wednesday during a news conference with Irsay by his side.
"I haven't thought yet about where I'll play, but I have thought a lot about where I've been, and I've truly been blessed," Manning said. "I've been blessed to play here. I've been blessed to be in the NFL."
The 35-year-old Manning came off a series of operations to his neck and missed all of last season.
He said he has no plans to retire and hopes to be playing in the NFL at the start of next season. Manning said he plans to live in Indianapolis, even after he moves to a different team.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said Manning will never be forgotten and Larry Bird, now an executive with the Indiana Pacers, simply called Manning the best athlete to ever play in the Indiana capital.
The Colts are widely expected to replace him with Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)