How did the NFL’s most famous family come
to be? Was it their stardom on the field, or their drama off of it? Why did perhaps the
most talented member of the family, never play a snap in an NFL game? How were they able to
manipulate the draft, so that their youngest son ended up in a premier NFL destination? And
will they be adding a third generation to their NFL family tree? While the NFL has seen families
with three generations of players in the league, none have been more influential than the Mannings.
As arguably the NFL’s most decorated lineage, The mannings are made up of three pro bowl
quarterbacks, all of whom were selected within the first two picks of their respective drafts,
and in total, have four lombardi trophies to their name. While the mannings are well known in the
NFL world, how did they become such a prolific family of quarterbacks, and is the greatest
among them still yet to come? Let’s take a look at how this family became faces of the NFL,
and left a legacy that will never be forgotten. Archie The Manning Family’s rise to NFL greatness
started in small town Drew, Mississippi in 1949, when patriach Archie was born. Archie
Manning, the eldest of the manning triad, was an incredibly gifted athlete from an
early age. Immersed in football and baseball, Archie excelled in both, and was drafted into the
MLB four separate times, as well as into the NFL, when the New Orleans Saints selected him 2nd
overall out of Ole Miss in 1971. As an NFL quarterback, Archie’s talent was on full display,
making two pro bowls in his time with the saints. But his talent on the field, ultimately, never
amounted to much, as he and the saints only had one winning season in his nine at quarterback.
Upon retirement after stints with both the Oilers and Vikings, Archie finished his NFL
career with the worst win percentage in NFL history amongst quarterbacks with 100 starts,
finishing with an abhorrent 35-103-3 record. Archie may have been a talented quarterback, but
his team failed him on the field. For close to a decade, Archie played on a Saints team that lacked
sufficient talent on both sides of the ball, proving too much for the eldest Manning
to overcome. Beyond football Archie was also a family man, marrying his college sweetheart
Olivia. Archie and Olivia gave birth to three sons while Archie was with the saints: Cooper, Peyton
and Eli - and all three were football stars. Cooper
Cooper, the eldest of the three manning brothers, was the only wide receiver of the group, and a
highly touted prospect coming out of high school, ultimately signing with his father Archie’s
Alma Mater, Ole Miss. Cooper was phenomenal as a high schooler, and arguably the most
talented of the three brothers in their youth, and seemed to be on a fast track to the pros.
But prior to the start of his collegiate career, Cooper began feeling numbness in his extremities.
After some investigation by doctors, cooper was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis, a narrowing of the
spinal column that makes contact sports extremely dangerous. As a result, cooper was forced to
retire from football before his career even began. Peyton
While cooper’s football career was short lived, the middle manning brother’s
certainly was not. Peyton Manning, aka The Sheriff, was as highly touted as quarterbacks
come. Following in his fathers footsteps, Peyton was an all star in high school. He played
for Issadore Newman High school in New Orleans, donning the number 18 to honor his brother
cooper. Peyton had about as much success as one can achieve in high school, winning
Gatorade National Player of the year, and had as many as SIXTY offers from division
one programs. Peyton’s decision, however, was ultimately a contentious one, as he elected
to attend the University of Tennessee, passing up on the opportunity to play for Archie and Cooper’s
alma mater, Ole Miss. Fans were outraged, filling the manning’s lines with many angry phone calls
and their mail box with hotly worded letters. But the decision to attend rocky top worked
out just fine for Peyton. While at Tenessee, the sheriff shined. He took over as the starter
in the fourth game of his freshman season, and never looked back. Peyteon finished
as the Vol’s all time leading passer with over 11,000 yards, and won 39 of 45 games as
a starter. His career, with the vols, however, was not without controversy, as trainer Dr. Jamie
Ann Naughtright alleged Peyton sexually assaulted her during his junior year, allegations which
Manning denied. Ultimately, the school ended up settling with Naughtright for $300,000 in
2002, and nothing more came from the matter. In 1997, Peyton’s senior season, the Sheriff
had his best year yet finishing with career highs in both passing yards and passing
touchdowns, while leading the vols to a 10-1 regular season record. In the SEC
championship game against Auburn, with Manning and the vols trailing 20-7,
Peyton had arguably the best performance of his college career, leading the Vols
to an incredible come from behind victory, finishing the game with over 370 yards passing,
four touchdowns and the game’s MVP trophy. The vols faced off against Nebraska in the orange
bowl, needing a win and a Michigan loss to secure the national title. The cornhuskers,
however, proved too much for Tennessee, as they rolled over the vols 42-17. That year,
Peyton finished with numerous awards for his tremendous season. Peyton won the Maxwell,
Davy O’Brien, Johnny Unitas and Espy for best college football player, but finished runner up
to charles woodson in the race for the Heisman. After his college days concluded, Peyton
was widely considered the most generational quarterback talent in quite some time. He was
drafted number one overall by the colts in the 1998 NFL draft, and again, never looked back.
The Sheriff was the immediate starter in Indy, playing 13 full seasons for the colts,
winning four MVPs and super bowl 41, where he was named MVP for
his effort against the Bears. In 2010, Peyton missed games due to injury
for the first time as a colt when he hurt his neck. The injury, cost manning the entire
2011 season and inevitably led to his release from the colts. But Peyton was not finished. He
signed with Denver and continued his success, winning another MVP in 2013 as head of one of the
NFL’s most prolific offenses. In the 2015-2016 season, the Sheriff led Denver to a victory in
Super Bowl 50, the franchises first since 1999, cementing Peyton as one of the all time great
quarterbacks with his second lombardi trophy. After the victory in super bowl 50, Peyton
retired shortly thereafter, but has remained relevant even after his playing days have
ended. He hosted the ESPY’s in 2017, is the star of one of ESPN’s favorite documentary series
titled “Peyton’s Places”, where he goes around the country interviewing different celebrities,
players and coaches, and of course, hosts Monday Night Football’s Manning Cast, with another 2-time
super bowl champion quarterback, his brother, Eli. Eli
Eli Manning, the youngest of the three manning brothers, followed in his brother and father’s
footsteps, on his way the NFL. Eli also played for Issadore Newman high school, setting the
records for career passing yards and touchdowns. Following his high school career, Eli chose to
attend the family alma mater, unlike Peyton, signing with Ole Miss. Eli had large shoes to fill
as a college quarterback, thanks to the legacy his older brother peyton left with the vols. As a
Rebel, the youngest manning brother left a legacy of his own, winning the Maxwell and Johnny Unitas
Golden arm awards, just like his older brother. Similarly, Eli was also a highly touted prospect
coming out of college, and was widely considered the best quarterback in a class chalk-full
with other talented signal callers Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisburger. But on draft
day, Eli and Archie stirred up controversy. Leading up to the draft, rumors began swirling
that the Chargers would make Eli the number one overall pick in the draft. Upon hearing the
news, Archie had a conversation with former charger quarterback Ryan Leaf’s father about San
Diego’s franchise. After learning the chargers did little to help Leaf with his personal problems,
Archie decided to flex his NFL influence, stating that if San Diego made Eli their selection, the
youngest manning would refuse to play for them. With San Diego’s hands tied, they made a deal.
The Chargers agreed to select manning number one overall, and trade him to the giants,
who would then select Phillip Rivers and trade him back to the chargers along
with a third, first and fifth round pick, for manning. At the conclusion of all the
madness, Archie and Eli got their way, and the youngest manning would play
out his NFL days for the Big Apple. Once with the Giants, Eli began second
on the depth chart behind Kurt Warner, but took over as the starter in week 10 after a
two game losing streak with warner at the helm, and never looked back. In his
first full season as Starter, Eli and the giants won the NFC east, and two
years later, they upset the undefeated new england patriots in super bowl fourty two, thanks
to an incredible effort from their stout defense, Four years later, Eli and the Giants did it again,
once more toppling the Belichick and Brady led patriots in super bowl 46, thanks again to a great
defensive performance, and more Manning heroics. However, After their second super bowl, things
slowly deteriorated for Eli and the giants, only making the playoffs one more time in Eli’s
final 8 seasons. In 2019, the team drafted Daniel Jones to be Eli’s successor, and in that season,
Eli would start his final game with the giants, as the team, and the fan base, had grown tired
of Eli’s inability to attain consistent success. Following the 2019 season, Manning
retired, and while his legacy will always be headlined by his two Super Bowl
victories over the NFL’s greatest dynasty, his statistics have led many to
questions just how impactful he was, finishing his career with 117 wins and 117
losses, for a perfectly mediocre .500 record. Arch
After Eli’s retirement, the NFL was manningless for the
first time in over two decades, and is anxiously awaiting to see if a third
generation of Manning will start a game under center in the league. While cooper was never
able to grace the NFL with his play on the field due to his career ending injury, his greatest
gift to the league may yet be on the horizon. Archie Manning, grandson of the man who started
it all, is entering his sophomore season at the University of Texas, as one of the most highly
touted quarterback recruits in quite some time. Young Arch played for Issadore Newman, just like
his uncle’s Peyton and Eli, breaking the former’s career touchdown record with 93 total TDs,
and the latters career passing yards record, with just shy of 7300. Many questioned whether
Archie’s high recruitment ranking was a result of his play or just his name, but as of late,
the young Manning has laid to rest many of those questions, and shown why he was so highly
thought of coming out of high school. While Quinn Ewers is still the starter for the
longhorns heading into the 2024 season, Archie may be hot on his heels. The third generation manning
star has made headlines for his play of late, when he wowed media and fans with his performance
earlier this year. In Texas’ spring game, Archie threw for a 75 yard touchdown on his
first attempt, started the game 10 for 10, and finished with 355 yards passing along with
three touchdowns to only one interception. With play like that against high level
competition, there’s no question Archie will uphold the manning family
tradition and become the fourth member of the NFL’s most popular family
to be drafted within the first two picks. There is still quite some time until we’ll
see Archie on an NFL field, but if the young gunslinger is able to live up to the hype, he will
cement the manning family’s legacy as NFL royalty. Conclusion
Thank you for watching! Don’t forget to check out our last video, which did a deep dive
on the Chicago Bears’ Quarterback problem, and how they may have solved it. If you enjoyed this
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