The Manning name has been synonymous with the quarterback position for around 40 years now, ever since Archie was quarterbacking the Ole Miss Rebels way back in 1969. Archie set all kinds of records at Oxford although the rest of the team was not really up to his caliber of play. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
The elder Manning went on to have a stellar career in the NFL with first the New Orleans Saints from 1971-1982 then two quick one and out seasons with the Oilers and the Vikings. He was a two times NFL Pro Bowl player in 1978 & 1979.
Archie also managed to father three fine sons, all of whom started playing the game of football at a very early age, like, in the cradle. Thus the NFL was gifted with not one, but two, of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the league. Indeed, both Eli and older brother Peyton are destined to have a place at Canton, Ohio in the NFL Hall of Fame one of these days.
Both brothers have won Super Bowls and MVP titles. If these guys are going to be putting on a training camp for young and aspiring football players, they are going to attract the cream of the crop and so they do.
But it is not only the Manning boys who will be guiding the young players along during the camp. They have enlisted the services of as many as 40 of the best athletes in the country both college and professional, to serve as guides and instructors at the camp.
The camp in held each year down in Cajun Country in Thibodaux, Louisiana at Nicholls State University and has been a big part of the Manning’s summers for over eighteen years now, the last eight at Nicholls State. During the camp the Mannings live, sleep, eat and work right alongside their assisting coaches and the young campers.
And those assistant coaches comprise quite a list of available talent these days. From the NFL we find quarterbacks Matt Barkley, San Bradford, Tyler Bray, Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, Phil Rivers and Mathew Stafford.
From the college ranks come Jameis Winston, AJ McCarron, Marcus Mariota, Case Keenum and Johnny Manziel. Coaches include Chip Kelly, Dave Shula and even Jon Gruden. Any young athlete would be eager to learn from that group of teachers.
If you are an aspiring young football player looking to make it in the big leagues, I can’t think of any better way to spend your summers than at the Manning Passing Academy.
