| Archie Manning, born on May 19, 1949, went from | | | | Unlike the sport of baseball which tracks its |
| growing up in relative obscurity in the small town | | | | history back to at least the turn of the twentieth |
| of Drew, Mississippi (population 2,434) in the | | | | century with meticulous statistics and records |
| northwest portion of the state of Mississippi to | | | | main stream football is a comparatively more |
| achieving fame and fortune as the quarterback of | | | | recent phenomenon in the United States. The first |
| the New Orleans Saints of the National Football | | | | Super Bowl occurred only as far back as 1966. |
| League (NFL). While quarterbacking the Saints | | | | After playing his college football at the University |
| football team Manning was never able to take the | | | | of Mississippi (commonly referred to as Ole Miss) |
| Louisiana team to the promised land of a Super | | | | Archie was a prized NFL prospect due to his |
| Bowl championship but he did give fans something | | | | success as a collegiate athlete. Although a lot of |
| to cheer about and a local southern boy to root | | | | teams wanted the heralded right handed signal |
| for. Over the course of his ten year career with | | | | caller from Ole Miss the New Orleans Saints were |
| the Saints Archie Manning became arguable the | | | | lucky enough to draft him with the number two |
| favorite player of southern football fans. | | | | overall pick in the first round of the 1971 NFL |
| Archie Manning grew up less than 100 miles from | | | | Draft that was held on January 28, 1971. New |
| the Louisiana border in a time when the upstart | | | | Orleans fans rejoiced over the pick which offered |
| professional football teams in the southern states | | | | the prospect of bringing in a son of the south to |
| were the Dallas Cowboys (founded in 1960), | | | | lead the upstart New Orleans Saints. |
| Houston Oilers (founded 1960), Atlanta Falcons | | | | Manning would go onto play ten years with the |
| (founded in 1966), Miami Dolphins (founded 1966), | | | | New Orleans Saints where despite exceptional |
| and New Orleans Saints (founded in 1967). Since | | | | individual performances he was never able to turn |
| the time that Manning was coming up as a young | | | | the franchise around into a sustainably winning |
| football player the NFL has since expanded into | | | | program. During his tenure in New Orleans he was |
| the cities of Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Nashville, | | | | always a crowd favorite despite the woeful |
| and Charlotte in terms of southern cities | | | | win-loss records the team often posted at the |
| represented in the now 32 team league. In many | | | | end of most years. For his efforts he was twice |
| respects the timeline for the rise of Archie | | | | selected as a Pro Bowl quarterback (1978 and |
| Manning closely mirrors the rise of the beginning | | | | 1979) and in 1978 he was named the NFC |
| of the NFL in terms of main stream notoriety. | | | | Offensive Player of the Year. |
