Peyton Manning will wear No. 18 in Denver

Peyton Manning's No. 18 orange Broncos jersey

After 49 years, Number 18 is returning to Denver.

Frank Tripucka, the last man to wear the jersey number for the Denver Broncos, has no problem with Peyton Manning taking the number out of retirement. The Broncos retired the jersey in 1963 when Tripucka, the team’s first quarterback, retired.

“I would be honored to have him wear it,” Tripucka told The Denver Post. “It’s been retired for 50 years. That’s long enough.”

This leaves Floyd Little‘s No. 44 and John Elway‘s No. 7 as the only jersey numbers to remain in retirement in Denver.

And while you may feel a rush to get your Manning jerseys ordered, Broncos fans, a cautious word to the wise — Nike is revamping all of the NFL’s team uniforms beginning in 2012. The new series is expected to be released in April. Wait a month before dropping $100 on your shiny new quarterback’s duds.