Should the Broncos have kept 18 retired?

21 Comments

  • Stephanie - 11 years ago

    I knew Mr. Tripucka & his family for many years. My dad counted him among some of his closests friends. This is the type of gracious man that he has been his entire life. The Bronco's should never even have asked for the number, but they did & Frank replied like a gracious gentle giant that he was. He was a class act all the way. RIP Mr. Trip!

  • Sonny wadkins - 12 years ago

    One more thing, Payton's number at Tennessee was 16 and in my opinion unselfishly changed it for Cooper. I don't know, but I believe that is one of the reasons number 18 is important to him.

  • Sonny wadkins - 12 years ago

    Does anyone know why Payton wears number 18, he wears it in memory of his brother Cooper who can't play. That was Cooper's number. Just a thought.

  • steve - 12 years ago

    i HEARD THAT THEY OFFERED HIM A MILLION DOLLARS. If they did then good for him. I think it's worth a million. don't u?

  • Complainer - 12 years ago

    Manning should change his last name to Uno Ocho and be done with it.

  • Bwall - 12 years ago

    Amazing how a journalist, if u wanna call them that, as they do a great job of fabricating stories, would imply that someone withh alzheimers would be a babbling idiot couldnt reason . If you know anyone with alzheimers, theres all sorts of levels of cognitive abilities, and they can reason, especially about past events. Basically this author of this story is saying Peyton Manning is lying, and you cant believe what he said. I am more inclined to think the auther of this story is fabricating facts to make a story. Knowing Peyton Manning, I do believe he is a man of integrety, and seriously doubt the fabrication the so called journalist who wrote this story has you trying to believe.

  • Olds_81 - 12 years ago

    "Mr. Frank Tripucka is 84 and has alzheimer's". These words, brings along suspicions that Mr. Tripucka may not be in the right frame of mind to make that decision when he was talking to Peyton Manning. Does Mr. Tripucka even remember what he did and his jersey number back then ? It is like asking an old person to sign off their will entirely to you when they are most vulnerable.

    Not sure if 17 is retired number but why not wear 17 to show appreciation for John Elway, mr. # 7 himself who played a significant role to bring you in. Leave 18 in Indianapolis.
    If you are good, the jersey number does not matter.

    As this Peyton Manning saga continues, looks like the younger brother, Eli, has more class act to show for. I hope, Eli wins a third superbowl ring before Peyton does.

  • Olds_81 - 12 years ago

    "Mr. Frank Tripucka is 84 and has alzheimer's". These words, brings along suspicions that Mr. Tripucka may not be in the right frame of mind to make that decision when he was talking to Peyton Manning. Does Mr. Tripucka even remember what he did and his jersey number back then ? It is like asking an old person to sign off their will entirely to you when they are most vulnerable.

    Not sure if 17 is retired number but why not wear 17 to show appreciation for John Elway, mr. # 7 himself who played a significant role to bring you in. Leave 18 in Indianapolis.
    If you are good, the jersey number does not matter.

    As this Peyton Manning saga continues, looks like the younger brother, Eli, has more class act to show for. I hope, Eli wins a third superbowl ring before Peyton does.

  • patsfan2 - 12 years ago

    I've always respected Peyton Manning and considered him a class act. I guess all illusions must be shattered at some point. Maybe Andrew Luck will grow a fondness for the number 18 and the Colts can unretire it!

  • John - 12 years ago

    As he always seems to do, Peyton Manning said all the right things on Tuesday, both when he was stiffly reading from notes and when he was more loosely responding to questions from the media.

    Regarding the questionable decision to unretire No. 18 so that Manning could wear the number that he wore for 13 seasons in Indianapolis (in his 14th season, he never put on a uniform), Manning tried to say all the right things. But nothing he said on that topic would have been truly right.

    “I’m going to wear No. 18 for the Broncos,” Manning said. ”I had the privilege of speaking with Frank Tripucka this morning. It really goes against everything I believe in being a guy who appreciates the history of football and I believe when a number is retired it should stay retired; but in talking to Frank Tripucka, I feel he really wants me to wear his number. It was a very humbling conversation and I am honored to wear his number, being another quarterback for the Denver Broncos as Mr. Tripucka was back years ago as the first quarterback to play here. It truly is an honor for me and I’m really following his wishes to wear it because that’s what he wants me to do and I’m honored to do that.”

    If it goes against everything Manning believes in, then he should have politely declined. I’m sure if Manning had been wearing No. 7 since 1998, John Elway would “really want” Manning to wear Elway’s number, too. That doesn’t make it right.

    Indeed, it flies in the face of the entire concept of retiring numbers. If a number is retired, it’s retired. The person for whom the number was retired should have no say in the matter; part of the honor is that the topic of unretiring the number should never be broached.

    In this case, the skids were greased last week, when reporters began contacting Tripucka and asking him about whether the number would be dusted off for Manning. What would anyone expect Tripucka to say? ”No, it’s mine . . . and while we’re on the topic get off my lawn”?

    To his credit, Tripucka acted charitably. But he never should have been placed in that position.

    In the end, the Broncos are the custodians of the team’s numbers. And the burden was on the Broncos to make it clear from the get-go that the number was retired, and that if Peyton were going to play for the Broncos he’d need to wear a different number.

    The Broncos surely realize that they’ve opened themselves and Manning up to legitimate criticism. Why else would the team have sent out a press release with quotes from Tripucka in which he says he “would be honored” to have Peyton wear the jersey?

    So while Tripucka comes out of this looking great, the Broncos and Manning don’t. The topic never should have been broached by either the team or the player, which would have kept Tripucka from having to do the only reasonable thing a person whose jersey has been retired can do when someone comes along with his sights set on unretiring it.

    And to those of you who think that Tripucka has manipulated this situation merely to get his name back into circulation after nearly 50 years of obscurity, keep two things in mind. First, he’s 84. Second, he has Alzheimer’s.

  • JTmain - 12 years ago

    If Frank insists he wear it, then honor Frank by wearing it. Too many trivial matters surrounding this non drama.

  • Les Visible - 12 years ago

    Vanity, all is vanity, as the prophet once said. However, here in Kali Yuga, you will be sure to see this Tebow affair come back and bite all those so associated in the ass. When you are truly great it doesn't matter what number you wear and Payton is not the best to ever play the game. The way he does commercials, he should have been a NASCAR driver. I'm surprised he doesn't have his top sponsor tattooed on his buttcheeks. Montana was certainly better and Brady is definitely at par or more. The best player is the team player. It's what makes a team great. Excellence manifests in results. That is what counts and I think this year we will see the best of the best of the best. It's the coach who gets it done; probably why I am a Pats fan. I'm not always right but when I look at a movie it is from the standpoint of the director. That is the way I appreciate what happens. Football is like chess and moves and falls together into the action of the moment. That's what you get when it happens in front of you.

  • fatboy005 - 12 years ago

    As far as I am concerned, nobody cares if anybody wears No. 19 in Indianapolis. Johnny U was a BALTIMORE Colt. He played in the town he lived in until the day he died. While he was alive he said he didn't even think his achievements and records should be recorded for a franchise he never played for. That'd be like the Ravens counting Jim Brown's records.

  • Jerry - 12 years ago

    Seattle unretired #80 temporarily for Rice, and I still cringe with the thought. Although Rice broke almost all, if not all, of Largent's records, he didn't do it wearing #80 in a Hawks uniform. Once retired, stay retired.
    Ask yourself Bronco fan that is 'OK' with it: Will Manning don #18 Bronco's Jersey when inducted into the Hall of Fame? No, then don't unretire Bronco's #18.

  • Rob - 12 years ago

    Just goes to show that Manning is a truly selfish and classless individual. I was shocked that he "Leno'd" Tim Tebow but now I see him for the chump he is. I'm looking forward to Richard Seymore dropping Mr Bobblehead to the ground and "Teebowing" in celebration!

  • Harry - 12 years ago

    When Montana came to KC he wore 19. Why even ask. Pick a new number, dillweed.

  • dave - 12 years ago

    Spare a thought for the 1st QB way back in 1960, he's had 50 years to forget he was part of the
    WORST TEAM in the history of the AFL / AFC! Together with the BUF Bills, DNV are the twin AFC Powder Puffs, the Doormats, look at their pathetic AFL Stats! Along with MIN Vikings, the NFC Powder Puffs, these 3 are the WORST teams in NFL History!

    Now the media will drag all that up again! The 1st QB doesn't want to relive it all again!!

  • Chad - 12 years ago

    No need to retire any numbers. Hang up a banner in their name and the number worn. Retiring numbers is as outdated as the voting for the hall of fame. Neither one of them carry any weight in my book.

  • Mark - 12 years ago

    I think that if Frank didn't say he would be honored to have him wear the number, then sure, leave it retired. That's the definition. Which I think is your point Mike. Frank is 84, he's been admiring Peyton's career and couldn't care less. We are making a bigger deal of the situation. I see both sides.

  • Chris98251 - 12 years ago

    The point of retireing a number is to honor the player that originally wore it, if Luck wants 18, 0r 19 in Indy would they give it up? Manning made his mark in Indy, let that legacy stay in Indy.

    Having seen the same fiasco happen here in Seattle with Largents number being brought out for Jerry Rice, it's a slap in the face of the original player and the respect that ownership and fanbase gave him for his contributions.

  • TWoDat - 12 years ago

    Sure Honor for him to wear on behalf of the retired player who wanted it worn. Now two sets of good memories for the number!!

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