Archie Manning

Archie is my all time sports idol. My dad went to Ole Miss so I was a big fan. Archie’s rookie year I was a freshman in a fraternity at Tulane and sort of gave the guys the impression that Archie and I were buddies even though I’d never met him.
That spring I went with a number of fraternity brothers to an exhibition baseball game at City Park involving the Yankees who had a guy from Archie’s home town. As we were walking out under the stadium a huge gaggle was making its way toward us. It was Archie and the Yankee surrounded by a bunch of fans. My brothers said hey there’s your buddy, go say Hi. I had no choice but to fake it. As Archie approached I pushed close and said hey Arch, “how are you?” He looked right at me and said “hey how’ve you been!” like he’d known me for years. He walked on but by the time we got back to the fraternity house, my brothers were telling everybody he called me by my name. I never corrected them.
You won’t find a guy nicer or more beloved by anybody who knows him. My hero Archie Manning.