Peyton Manning calls, gets right number

Reporting from Englewood, Colo. — Just like always, Peyton Manning had a plan — in this case, a triple option.

He had three newly minted, orange Denver Broncos jerseys at the ready Tuesday for his introductory news conference, each sporting a different number — the No. 14 he wore in high school, his No. 16 from Tennessee, and the No. 18 he wore for the past 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

Manning didn’t make the decision to go with No. 18 until he got permission to bring it out of retirement in a phone call from 84-year-old Frank Tripucka, the first quarterback in club history.

“I didn’t get to talk to Mr. Tripucka until this morning,” Manning said, standing in a quiet upstairs hallway at team headquarters. “It wasn’t, ‘I want to wear this and here’s what I’ll do for you.’ It was, ‘I actually don’t want to wear it. I believe that number should stay retired.’ And he said, ‘No, no, Peyton. It would mean a lot to me if you’d wear it.’”

The Broncos had a plan too, and a much more ambitious one.

They pursued and landed the most decorated free agent in NFL history, the league’s only four-time most valuable player, a quarterback who sat out the past season recovering from multiple neck surgeries. Manning agreed to a five-year deal worth a possible $96 million. For the upcoming season, he is guaranteed $18 million, and — providing he passes a physical next March — his next two seasons are guaranteed at $20 million each.

That plan came together with a phone call too, one to the cellphone of Broncos executive John Elway around 9:30 Monday morning.

Elway was in his spacious office at the time, sitting at his desk as Coach John Fox paced the room. They were talking personnel issues, but the Manning situation wasn’t far from their thoughts. He was a player who could change the course of the organization. Manning had narrowed the field to three finalists: Denver, San Francisco and Tennessee.

Elway’s phone buzzed and Manning’s name appeared.

“It’s him,” Elway said, as Fox felt himself backing away from the phone.

“I picked it up and said, ‘Hello,’ and he sounded like he was tired,” Elway recalled. “I said, ‘How ya doing?’ And he said, ‘Well, it’s been kind of hard telling teams you’re not going to play for them, right?’

“So right then, I’m thinking, ‘OK, we’re not the first team he’s told, but are we the second?’ And then he said, ‘I wanted to call and tell you I want to play for the Denver Broncos.’”

Keeping his voice calm to Manning, Elway gave Fox a gleeful thumbs up. Fox felt like howling but celebrated silently, not wanting Manning to know he was in the room and listening to half of the conversation.

“I exhaled,” Elway said. “I was almost exhausted the rest of the day. When I got home I went to bed early last night. Best night’s sleep I’ve had in 10 days.”

Later Monday morning, Fox texted Manning: “It’s still sinking in. I’m jacked.”

Manning said he only reached his final decision Monday.

“I slept on it hard Sunday night, and then Monday morning I woke up and put the word out,” he said.

The biggest question about Manning is whether he can be the kind of player he was before his neck procedures. Those stem from an injury he sustained in a 2006 game against Washington.

Manning, who turns 36 on Saturday, said his body isn’t where he wants it to be, but that he would feel good enough to play a game now if he needed to.

What’s more, he said he was “an open book” about his medical issues when talking to, and working out for, the final three teams pursuing him.

“I’ve been very open with the Broncos, really all the teams, about my medical history, about where I am, about how I feel,” he said. “And I really let them tell me. I put all the cards out on the table, working out for three teams and going through my entire medical history, not just the past year.

“I couldn’t sell myself when it came to that. I had to let them look at it and tell me and decide this is something they wanted to do. It’s encouraging to me that all the teams that partook in that process said they wanted to go forward.”

The excitement was palpable Tuesday, both at Broncos headquarters, where a cluster of TV trucks raised their satellite antennas high in the air; to the conference room packed with reporters; to the city itself, where fans are still wrapping their minds around the fact their team finally has a franchise quarterback — one vastly superior to each of the 11 who have started for Denver since Elway retired after the 1998 season.

“For the first time in maybe about 13 years, we look at our team and say, ‘We can embrace this team as a legitimate contender,’” said longtime Denver radio host Sandy Clough of KKFN-FM.

For the Broncos, embracing Manning means letting go of quarterback Tim Tebow, who presided over several breathtaking victories last season, among them a playoff upset of Pittsburgh in overtime.

Elway said the Broncos have yet to make a decision on Tebow but are exploring all options, including trading him. The two discussed the situation in a phone call Monday night. According to the Associated Press, the Broncos took down all action shots of Tebow at the team’s facility.

“Obviously, he was disappointed; I’m sure he was disappointed,” Elway said. “He didn’t come out and say he was disappointed. It was a typical Tim Tebow response in the fact that he was very positive. He said, ‘Well, we are talking about Peyton Manning and I understand exactly what you are doing.’”

Manning steered clear of the situation, emphasizing that he will stay the course no matter what the club decides to do with Tebow.

“I know what kind of player Tim Tebow is and what kind of person he is,” Manning said in the news conference. “I got to meet him personally one time. And what an awesome year he had. If Tim Tebow is here, I’m going to be the best teammate I can be to him. He and I are going to help this team win games. If other opportunities present themselves to him, I’m going to wish him the best. He’s going to be a great player wherever he is.”

Two hours later, Manning leaned against the wall outside Elway’s office looking wiped out. The process has been a grind. His rolled-up jersey was tucked under one arm.

“I’m sure you can probably tell, this isn’t comfortable for me,” he said. “It’s going to take time. The sooner I can get in some workout clothes, go sweat in a workout, go out to dinner with Champ [Bailey], go throw with [Eric] Decker…

“If this becomes so easy, it wouldn’t mean as much to be in one place for so long. It’s easy for the guys who do this a lot, they play here or there. It’s not easy for me at all.”

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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