Peyton and Ashley Manning in the Colts Locker room / Indianapolis Star

While this story has been floating around over a week now — initially reported by a Tennessee Volunteers blog — recent requests by the Manning family for the Indianapolis Star not to report on speculation created uncertainty surrounding reports of twins born to 4-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley Manning. Without hard evidence or reputable sources to confirm this story, Coltzilla chose to respect the Manning family’s request for privacy and give them whatever time they desired to get comfortable in their new role as parents, or deal with any unknown issues or complications that may have been involved. That changed today, when the local Indianapolis Channel 6 News station obtained copies of a pair of birth certificates filed to the Marion County Health Department in which Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning and his wife Louisa “Ashley” Manning are named as parents.

The newborn twins, one boy and one girl, are named Marshall Williams Manning and Mosley Thompson Manning — Mosley, the girl, is named after Ashley’s maiden name (Thompson), while Marshall, the boy, was given Peyton’s middle name. According to the birth certificates, they were born on March 31st, just days after Colts TE Jacob Tamme welcomed his first child into the world and only a matter of a couple weeks after Giants QB, and Peyton’s little brother Eli Manning had his first child, a girl.

The birth of twins answers a number of questions that had recently been floating around concerning Manning’s public scarcity this summer. This is the time of year he is generally his most active with charity events, and is commonly a headliner for a number of fundraisers. While the initial reports of the births came as a surprise to Colts fans, given the Manning’s desire for privacy in their personal life, it is not surprising that he and Ashley kept it a quiet.

We here at Coltzilla, and Colts fans around the world wish Peyton and Ashley the best of luck as they start a new phase of their life as a family. Our best wishes and congratulations go out to the whole Manning family, including Marshall and Mosley.