Thoughts on The Book Of Manning ?

coach66

Junior
Mar 5, 2009
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It was a good show, I enjoyed watching it and brought back

Many memories. Hard not to like the family but I do tire of them as an MSU fan.
 

RockstarFromMars

Redshirt
Sep 11, 2012
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Thought it was well done. The section on Cooper was especially touching, and it's really hard to cheer against Archie Manning. Pardon the pun, but the man's a saint for toughing it out in New Orleans for as long as he did.
 

Lawdawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Jul 22, 2012
5,330
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I didn't see the Book of Eli...

So i guess i have to wait to see this one. Was this a sequel or a prequel?
 

dawgatUSM

Redshirt
Apr 6, 2008
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It's a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can appreciate a dad and a family that didn't let the fame get in the way of their relationships.

I grew to appreciate Archie as a dad. He always struck me as one of those dads that hovered around everything his kids did. That wasn't the case at all... He made them fulfill their commitments and let coaches coach. I can respect that.
 

klong-dog

Sophomore
Aug 22, 2012
2,138
175
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Enjoyed it. I wonder if they'll add to it once their NFL careers are complete.

The only beef that I can remember having with Archie and company was with Eli and the draft, him being so persistent and not wanting or allowing Eli to be drafted by San Diego.
 

esplanade91

Redshirt
Dec 9, 2010
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As a Mississippian and a Saints and general football fan I love Archie. As a bulldog I hate Archie. Regardless you have to have a ridiculous amount of respect for a guy that never told his kids to play football or to go to a college which he practically owns.

Eli is a little ***** though.

Thought it was really good. DVR'd it while I was at work and when I saw only 20 minutes were left at one point I got pretty mad. Didn't want it to end.
 

engie

Freshman
May 29, 2011
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Thought it was great. Already had a ton of respect for the family and this did nothing to change that.

Did Peyton announce for Tennessee on NSD in a Red/Blue dress shirt? That's the way it appears in the documentary. I would have loved for message boards to be around for that meltdown...

Did anyone else notice the checkerboard endzone in Legion Field in the 69 game? Found that pretty interesting... Never knew Tennessee stole one of their proudest traditions from Alabama...
 
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RefugeGolfer

Redshirt
Aug 23, 2012
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Was the show made by an Ole Miss homer?

He sure showed Peyton crying alot as a child. maybe payback for not going to Ole Miss
 

onewoof

Heisman
Mar 4, 2008
14,940
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you can't argue with the results of professional success and what was showed last night as personal success. that being said it seemed a bit staged, sort of like the blind side. if you tell the whole story, the good, the bad and the ugly, it would feel just like another family despite the staged humility.
 

was21

Senior
May 29, 2007
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Thought it was a good example of how a lot of positive things can emerge from a very personal tragedy. His father's suicide obviously affected him to take on a character that he tried to pass on to his children and made family a high priority. I won't hold it against him for taking an occasional jab at State in over the air appearances. If I had a forum like that, I'd probably cut OM a little as well.
 

512taylor

Redshirt
Sep 2, 2012
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I'll dismiss any feelings I have for them as so far as football is concerned, but looking at them from a "family point of view", I wish there were more like them out there. The Mannings do a lot of philanthropic work that helps so many that can't afford the services that work provides.
An example of this is Blair Batson Childrens' Hospital in Jackson, but there are other examples.
 

coach66

Junior
Mar 5, 2009
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It is interesting how a life event like Archie losing his father the way he did

can totally change the course of so many lives. Who knows what would have happened if Ole Arch had got the big head and taken the path of Fourcade et al. The fact is he didn't and look what it did for his life and his boys. Losing his father made him determined to be the best father that he could possibly be and boy did it pay off.
 

1msucub

Senior
Oct 3, 2004
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I thought it was great and well done.

Cooper's story is awful; I really hate it for him. To lose that relationship with your teammates like that to something you can't control may be the worst fate in sports short of paralysis. It's hard not to be a bit envious of them; it would sure be nice to have something like that associated with State.

Guess I'll have to wait for the Book of Morgan.
 

Maroonthirteen

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Aug 22, 2012
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Well done. Great family. However, you old timers need to chime in. What struck me about the old game footage was how fast he was. I assume Peyton and Eli inherited Archie's athleticism but I also assume the game is much faster now than in 1969-1970. I am old enough to remember Archie later in his career with the Saints. He wasn't much of a scrambler by then.

Also, it crossed my mind......if there was internet back in the early 70s......I could imagine the State internet fans calling Rocky our Archie.
 
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coach66

Junior
Mar 5, 2009
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The boys are much taller than Archie and don't have his speed, quickness, and

moves. With that said there is no way Archie could have done what he did with today's players, mainly the fact he played against virtually no black players his entire career. Archie did not possess the speed, quickness or moves of Johnny Football. For his era he was a great player and a great representative of his University and his State.
 

dudehead

Senior
Jul 9, 2006
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Well done. Great family. However, you old timers need to chime in. What struck me about the old game footage was how fast he was. I assume Peyton and Eli inherited Archie's athleticism but I also assume the game is much faster now than in 1969-1970. I am old enough to remember Archie later in his career with the Saints. He wasn't much of a scrambler by then.

Also, it crossed my mind......if there was internet back in the early 70s......I could imagine the State internet fans calling Rocky our Archie.

All the players were white back then; that was before intergration of NCAA sports.

The majority of players are black now, particularly in the skill positions. I assume that is because speed is desired in these positions and there must be more fast young black men than there are fast young white men, at least that want to play football.

Archie's speed is just relative to the overall speed of the game back then. Players are also much bigger and stronger today (not just faster).
 

BigLeagueChew

Redshirt
Aug 25, 2008
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That is strange that they didn't cover the Eli-Charges draft fiasco. Supposedly

it was Archie who calling the shots and not wanting Eli to have a pro career similar to his (i.e. playing for a "******" franchise). If I recall, Archie didn't think SD would spend money on players to make Eli a better QB.
 

CEO2044

Senior
May 11, 2009
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It was extremely well-directed. Way better than the Ghosts of Ole Miss, which seemed to be too much about Wright Thompson than everything that happened. I don't know, it just seemed like he wanted to be in it too much.

The re-enactions were cheesy, but everything else was top-notch. I read Archie's book a long time ago; I don't know that his father's suicide really pushed him as much athletically. I don't think he was ever going to get a big head; it's just not him at all. He makes little of everything, and always has. But it did show him how important a father was and his losing his Dad so early made him realize he needed to be more involved with his kids, because you never know what can happen.

I loved all of the family footage- I think that's awesome. Arch has some great stuff. What's really impressive is knowing the beatings he took, and he was still playing with his kids all of the time, down on his hands and knees. I've read a lot of books on pro athletes, and have heard a lot of comments like, "I was in the bed all day on Monday's, etc.". He obviously wasn't.

Ole Miss or not, I'm from the Delta and I'm proud of Archie and kind of relate to him that way. He still reminds me of home in the way he was speaking. Also, my great uncle is Charlie Conerly, so it was cool to see a little highlight of him. I knew that was one of Archie's dad's favorites.

I don't know if any of you picked up on it... but Peyton mentioned earlier in the segment that he always looked up to his Dad, and thought if he could be like him, he'd turn out to be a good guy. And then towards the end, Archie mentions that's something his father told him he hoped for him, and it was always his main focus in life, and then later to appear that way towards his kids.

I don't know him personally, but I know people that grew up with him, and everything they say is everything I've ever encountered with him the few times I have met him. Regardless of the OM connection, I think you have to respect the hell out of someone like that.

And I know seeing him all of the time is annoying, but how smart have his business decisions been? For a guy that's really fairly shy, he's learned to be sociable enough and marketable.
 

coach66

Junior
Mar 5, 2009
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I never realized Cooper's condition was a severe as it was and he came as close

as he did to having major issues. He is a lucky man.
 

coach66

Junior
Mar 5, 2009
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I'll add a little more on old Arch since I followed him so closely. He threw

one of the ugliest passes in the game. I mean they were mostly Billy Kilmer quality, extremely wobbly. He also had a horrid release that they were never able to correct even in the pros. He was not a pure passer and most of his passing yardage came after scrambling around and throwing to wide open receivers after about 8 or 9 seconds. How the hell they kept from having lineman down field penalties on a regular basis was amazing.
 
Nov 19, 2012
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I was at an outdoor charity function, and Cooper, Archie and Eli were all there. There was a line of young kids waiting to get autographs. Eli and Archie were standing together, and though I would say both were very polite, Archie was clearly the most genuinely nice. Eli would grab the ball or whatever the kid had for him to autograph, sign it, and grab something from the next kid, like an assembly line. Again--nothing negative about his behavior.

Archie, however, made eye contact with the kid (or parent), and after he signed the ball, etc., said something to or asked something about everyone who came to him. Every time. He would often pat the smaller kids on the head or shoulder when he spoke, or shake hands with the taller kids. His line got longer because he took longer, but he never quit giving them the extra attention.

I used to hate him for years, but if you know anything about the man, he's impossible not to like.
 

was21

Senior
May 29, 2007
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Ole Arch would take it from center, step back several, and throw that lateral out to the right or left...over and over again. That ole boy completed a lot of those.