By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Though known widely as one of the greatest athletes in Louisiana history, former Saints quarterback Archie Manning has taken somewhat of a backseat to his two famous NFL quarterback sons in recent years. 

After all, Peyton has all but rewritten the NFL record book and sports a Super Bowl ring. Eli, meanwhile, quarterbacks one of the NFL’s marquee franchises and has earned two championship rings of his own. 

But on Tuesday night at St. Charles Catholic, Archie showed he can still command a crowd with the best of them. 

Manning was the guest speaker at SCC’s first Quarterbacks Club meeting of the 2014 season and highlighted an enjoyable night for all, giving his thoughts on LSU, the Saints, the state of football today … and perhaps most memorably, a slew of humorous anecdotes from his life. 

“As a kid, I always wanted to play ball, and I was blessed enough that I got to do that,” Manning said. “And I always wanted to quarterback at Ole Miss, and I was blessed enough that I got to do that, too.”

Of course, Eli and Peyton were never all that far from the conversation, something football’s most famous father made light of.

Speaking of a child asking for Eli’s autograph in Oxford, Miss., Archie said, “His mother asks him, ‘Did you get Eli’s autograph?’ And he responded, ‘Yeah, I did. Then he gave the ball to some old guy and had him sign it too.’”

Manning fondly recounted some of his memories of his days as Ole Miss quarterback, centering most around the Rebels’ rivalry with LSU, which he noted was one of the most heated rivalries in the South at the time. 

He said the Rebels’ win in 1969 over Charlie McClendon’s LSU Tigers, which Manning said was “the best of Charlie Mac’s teams,” shined for him. 

“I remember walking into Tiger Stadium once and they were throwing oranges at me,” Manning said with a chuckle. “I didn’t ever think at that time I’d become any kind of Louisiana legend.”

Manning said he thinks LSU and the Saints are in for strong seasons. He believes LSU’s 2014 team will be better than pundits think.

“LSU’s got an unsettled quarterback situation, but the way Les Miles recruits, they’re as talented as anyone around,” he said. “I think they’ll be plenty good … It will be a challenge, though, because the SEC West is just incredible.”

The crowd on hand at SCC laughed, and after the entertainment was over, a few had questions for the former football great, ranging from his thoughts on the utility of the quarterback rating (“Interceptions probably hurt you a little too much. A bad throw counts as much as a tipped ball or if a receiver falls down.”), Johnny Manziel (“We were all 21 once. Everyone eventually grows up. He’s a talent and he can play. He just has a little growing up to do.”) and his favorite athletic memory (He cited the 1969 win over LSU and that rivalry in general.).

Before Manning spoke, old school football fans swapped Manning stories amongst themselves, recounting his greatness, while others sought autographs and handshakes.

It served as a reminder of the eldest Manning’s personal achievements apart from his well-known success as a father. Manning was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989 and had SEC MVP and NFC Player of the Year honors to his credit. 

He recounted a time when he received a letter from a young fan whose school assignment guided him to write a report on Manning. The boy said that after he read of Archie’s on-field exploits, he concluded he was better than Peyton and Eli.

“I said the first thing I’m gonna do,” Archie recalled with a grin, “is shoot a few copies of this thing and send it to the both of them.”