Archie Manning is known for being Peyton and Eli’s father, the documentary ”The Book of Manning”, shows a part of Archie that nearly nobody knew.
On Tuesday, Sept 24th, ESPN released another episode of their documentary series, “SEC Storied”. All of their films are related to the Southeastern Conference, arguably the greatest conference in college football history. The latest release, “The Book of Manning”, delves into the history of the Mannings, particularly Archie. Director Rory Karpf worked with Archie for more than two years on this project.
When most people think of Archie Manning, they think of a man sitting in a suite with his wife Olivia watching their sons play. Some people knew he was a former player, but few knew the whole story. Karpf paints a great picture of what Archie has been through and how so many moments not only made Archie who he was, but molded sons Cooper, Peyton and Eli.
Archie Manning grew up in a small town in Mississippi wanting affection from his father Buddy. Very saddened thinking back, Archie says, “ We didn’t hug.” It was a time when fathers didn’t hug or say, “I love you.” All Archie wanted to do was please his father. Buddy was a devoted Ole Miss Rebels fan and Archie loved to watch games with his father. After high school, Archie had to choose between being signing a professional contract with the Atlanta Braves or signing a letter of intent to play football for Ole Miss. His father told him, “You gotta do what your heart tells you to do.” Archie choose to play football for the Rebels.
Archie’s college career was comparable to a rollercoaster ride. During his first year as a member of the freshmen team, the practices were so tough that the Rebels started with eight quarterbacks, all the quarterbacks on the roster quit besides Archie. Teammate Bubba Tollison said, “If you could make it through Wobble Davidson, you could run barefoot and naked through hell and you wouldn’t even be sunburned when you came out on the other side.” Archie said, “It was tough, a lot of guys didn’t come back, I can’t say that I didn’t think about it.”
As the Ole Miss starting quarterback his sophomore season, Archie led the Rebels to a Liberty Bowl win. After the season, Archie returned home to find that his father committed suicide. “I was the one who found him. Got things together so my mother wouldn’t walk in on that.” Archie wanted to quit school so that he could work and help support his family. His mother wouldn’t allow it and he returned to school.
Big things were expected of Archie after that. In his junior year of 1969, he finished 4th in the Heisman Trophy. He ran for over 500 yards and was one of the most exciting players in the country to watch. Three time Texas sportswriter of the year, Skip Bayless tweeted, “Archie Manning as a college QB was Johnny Football long before Johnny Football.” He ended that season winning most valuable player of the Sugar Bowl as Ole Miss beat #3 Arkansas.
Archie went on to be the second overall pick to the Saints. He played eleven seasons in the NFL, and never had a winning season. He took a beating on every play but he said, “I actually have positive memories.” He was able to bring his sons to practice almost every Saturday the day before they had a home game. Cooper and Peyton have fond memories from that.
He spent as much time as he could with his sons and loved it. When the kids were very young he was mad when they moved into a new house and the furniture was brought in because it messed up their indoor football. Cooper Manning was an All-State receiver who had a scholarship offer from Ole Miss and took it. Cooper was Peyton’s top receiver in high school. Peyton looked forward to going to Ole Miss to play with his brother. At an Ole Miss practice before the season started Cooper was diagnosed with spinal stenosis and would never play one snap of football, his career was over. This saddened all the Mannings greatly.
Peyton would not follow his father and brother’s trail by going to Ole Miss. Instead, he signed with the University of Tennessee. They would be getting the Gatorade player of the year given to high school football’s best quarterback. The movie shows Peyton taking the reins of starting quarterback as a freshman in mid-season due to the starting quarterback getting injured. That quarterback was Todd Helton, who is one of the most respected baseball players ever. That omission is surprising because that would have shocked people to hear that Helton was a good enough quarterback to play at Tennessee.
Overall, Peyton and Eli would both became great NFL players. “For them to be number one picks in the draft, to win Super Bowls, MVP’s, yeah, we pinch ourselves,” Archie then said, “I don’t like the perception that it was a plan.” He never pressured his kids to play football, but they loved competing and playing all sports. The Mannings are perhaps the best father and sons duo in sports history. If Cooper hadn’t been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, Peyton most likely would have gone to Ole Miss, and they may have been a dynasty in the 1990’s. At the end of the movie, Bayless tweeted, “Archie stole that show from his two more famous and successful QB sons. What a dad.”