ARCHIE AND OLIVIA MANNING

I wonder if Archie and Olivia (Williams) Manning had the parents they turned out to be.

They may have been that fortunate…or not.

But this is not about that.

Rather, it’s about them, and the family they have produced and the families their progeny are producing.

Elisha Archibald Manning III — Archie for short — is a former NFL quarterback of far more than modest repute who played in the league for 13 seasons, largely for the moribund New Orleans Saints (1971–1982) and then for the Houston Oilers (1982–1983) and the Minnesota Vikings (1983–1984).

He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection (1978, 1979) and is a member of the New Orleans Saints Ring of Honor and the Saints Hall of Fame.

His college career was far more prodigious.

At Ole Miss he threw for 4,753 yards in his 3-year varsity career and 31 touchdowns (albeit with 40 interceptions).

He ran for 823 yards.

In both 1969 and 1970 Manning was named first team All-SEC and in ’69 he won the Nashville Banner Trophy as the SEC MVP as well as the Walter Camp Memorial Trophy presented annually by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club to the collegiate back of the year.

His №18 jersey was retired by Ole Miss, and his legacy is honored on campus to this day where the speed limit is eighteen miles per hour, celebrating his jersey number.

Manning was fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1969 and third in 1970.

He was named SEC Quarterback of the Quarter Century (1950–1975) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Olivia Manning, hailing from Philadelphia, Mississippi (also the hometown of the heralded yet much maligned Marcus Dupree) attended Ole Miss where she was Homecoming Queen in her senior year.

After marriage and moving to New Orleans the couple had three sons — Cooper, Peyton and Eli — and Olivia became and remains active in charity and volunteer work in the community.

Included in this community outreach is her role as a founding member of Women of the Storm, a group dedicated to the resurrection of New Orleans, following the devastating tragedy, horror and havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina.

(Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane which caused over 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in damage in August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas.

At the time, it was the costliest tropical cyclone on record and now shares that dubious distinction with 2017’s Hurricane Harvey which caused catastrophic, deadly flooding over Southeast Texas before making its final landfall near Cameron, Louisiana during the overnight hours of August 30th).

The gridiron exploits of the three Manning boys is well documented.

Cooper, the eldest and least publicized, may have been the best athlete of the bunch. But to many, he is the “lost” Manning brother, the one without Super Bowl rings, Pro Bowl appearances and national television commercials.

A diagnosis of spinal stenosis at 18 put an end to the 6’4” wide receiver’s playing days before he could get on the field as a scholarship recruit at Ole Miss, following an All-State senior season at Isidore Newman H.S., catching passes from sophomore QB and brother Peyton, eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards in 1991.

(The only other Newman WR to accomplish this feat since, was a fellow named Odell Beckham, Jr. 19 years later in 2010).

Because of the spinal stenosis, which numbed Cooper’s hands and fingers and produced some atrophy in his right bicep, his career was over before it really began.

Being hit the wrong way could have left him paralyzed.

When the diagnosis was made and confirmed, Cooper wrote Peyton a letter in which he stated that he wanted to live the football career he couldn’t have, through his younger brother.

According to Sports Illustrated an excerpt read like this:

“I would like to live my dream of playing football through you. Although I cannot play anymore, I know I can still get the same feeling out of watching my little brother do what he does best. I know now that we are good for each other, because I need you to be serious and look at things from a different perspective.

I am good for you, as well, to take things light. I love you, Peyt, and only great things lay ahead for you. Thanks for everything on and off the field.”

Not bad for a heartbroken eighteen-year-old kid whose world was shattered, yet was able to pen words revealing an extraordinary maturity and an unabashed support for his younger brother.

At such a tender age, no less.

Today Cooper Manning is a 46-year-old happily married father of three, part owner of an energy investment firm with holdings in oil and gas companies. He has a net worth of $15 million (according to Celebrity Networth).

He is also a rising star in sports journalism and comedy.

And his 3 kids — 2 boys and a girl — are all promising athletes.

Next-in-line Peyton needs no introduction.

The first overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft after an excellent career at the University of Tennessee, he developed into one of the NFL’s greatest QBs ever, a certain Hall-of-Famer to be, who amassed nearly 72,000 passing yards and threw for 539 TDs, while laying claim to a pair of Super Bowl championships.

He also may be the world’s greatest pitchman.

Youngest brother Eli played his college ball at Ole Miss before becoming the first overall pick in 2004. A draft-day trade sent him to the New York Giants, with whom he spent his entire 16-year career.

Never quite as dominant as Peyton, he was accomplished enough to lead the underdog Giants to two Super Bowl titles (XLII; XLVI) — over the mighty New England Patriots — the former of which is considered one of the greatest sports upsets of all time, as the Giants were a wild card entry and the Pats were undefeated.

Manning was named MVP in both Super Bowl victories, making him one of only five players — all quarterbacks as it happens — to have collected multiple Super Bowl MVP awards (Tom Brady-4; Joe Montana-3; Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw-2 apiece).

The Manning brothers have 9 children between them; Cooper and Ellen have three; Peyton and Ashley have two; and Eli and Abby have four.

Cooper’s children are the eldest and his middle child is the one to watch closely in terms of his own gridiron achievements.

Arch Manning — named after grandfather Archie — at 15, is already setting the football world ablaze.

Unlike his father and two uncles, he was handed the keys to Newman’s offense as a ninth-grader, a freshman in high school.

(Back in their day Cooper, Peyton and Eli were sophomores when they were first eligible to suit up for the varsity).

Probably a capital idea; Manning finished the year with 2,438 passing yards and threw 34 touchdown passes with just 6 interceptions.

As a freshman in varsity competition.

A 6’3” 195 lb. sophomore this season, Arch passed for 463 yards (27–37) and 6 TDs with one pick in his first two games.

Unlike his uncles — and a chip off the old block with respect to his Dad — he can run. He has great agility and moves his feet beautifully to complement his cannon arm.

His ability to move in the pocket is reminiscent of one of his grandfather’s greatest strengths and his work ethic conjures images of Uncle Peyt.

Already Arch is being hailed as the nation’s top quarterback prospect and the №5 overall recruit in the 2023 high school class.

His family declined to accept scholarship offers for Arch during his freshman year.

The catch-line?

“There is no offer to give because there is no offer to receive.”

This year it’s a little different.

Manning has nine scholarship offers thus far including from heavy hitters Alabama, LSU, Georgia and of course Ole Miss. North Carolina, Duke, Tennessee, Florida State and Arkansas have also formally weighed in.

As Mike Detillier, a longtime NFL draft analyst based in New Orleans notes, “When it’s all said and done, he’s going to be the most highly recruited player out of the state of Louisiana. It’s going to be a tsunami of recruiting like we’ve never seen.”

But he cannot be his father or his uncles, nor would it be prudent to hang that albatross around his neck.

“Arch is his own entity,” remarked Newman head coach Nelson Stewart.

“That’s one thing we tell him is, you be yourself. What a great resource he has with his uncles, grandfather and dad that can work with him and help, but as a sophomore, I would hope no one would put that label on him because there’s so much growth still to happen.

We let Arch be Arch, let him be a sophomore.”

To those in the know, Arch Manning’s humility and competitive fire are off the charts, which most certainly will help vault him to that rarefied air which his family and extended family have been breathing all these years.

Says Stewart, “The Manning name is the first thing you see when you walk through the gates; he’s №16 and he’s a quarterback.

But he’s his own individual. That’s the magic of him, that he keeps his head down, always gives credit to his teammates, and everything is done quietly with him because that’s who he is.”

Of course, he comes by all of it, honestly.

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in October 2020.]