The reigning Super Bowl champion made official what was reported over the weekend, announcing his NFL career was over during a Monday morning press conference from Denver.
The star quarterback broke all kinds of records during his 18-year career, first with the Indianapolis Colts and later with the Broncos. He led Denver to the Super Bowl title last season after getting benched in the middle of the year following a few ugly performances on the field.
Manning’s retirement comes against the backdrop of allegations made by a former athletics trainer at the University of Tennessee that he sexually assaulted her during his collegiate career there. The case was brought to light only recently, and Manning has denied any wrongdoing, and did so again during his farewell press conference when a reporter asked him about the charges.
“I think it’s sad that some people don’t understand the truth or the facts. I did not do what has been alleged,” he said. “Like Forest Gump said, ‘That’s all I have to say about that.’”
durr hurr lady trainers are like a box of chocolate pic.twitter.com/1TVsmBu98h
— Mike Tunison (@xmasape) March 7, 2016
Asked what he’d do in retirement, Manning was noncommittal. It’ll probably involve managing a few Papa John’s franchises though.