Interesting comment from this week's Sports Illustrated issue...

I don't know...Archie has always said that his sons need to be their own person.

...although actions speek louder than words.

 

Who gives a damn about the Mannings?

Overrated "ass-portraying" Farchie clones.

It all ends in Vaught-Hemmingway for Farchie.

The Mannings have been a source of amusement for LSU.

Let's hope it continues to breed.

 

Supposedly Cooper was running high 4.5's when he started at Ole Miss.

 

Just because Peyton said this does not mean he isn't loyal to Tennessee. You have to remember this was said by him while he was thinking about his thought process during his recruiting, when he was weighing Ole Miss vs. LSU. All he's saying is that, had Cooper still been playing, it would have tipped the scales in favor of Ole Miss. As it was, Ole Miss was a program in turmoil at the time; on probation, had just gone through a coaching change and would soon go through another.

And none of the Mannings seriously considered LSU. Cooper was Ole Miss all the way, just like his dad. LSU was in even worse shape than Ole Miss back in 94. Eli came out in 99, when we also stunk and were in the midst of a quarterback controversy. We knew Peyton wouldn't choose us, and why would we run for him, when Josh Booty was being ranked just as high if not higher by many recruiting analysts. Booty had also said plainly at the time it was LSU or baseball for him, he often spoke of dreaming of playing for LSU since he was a little boy and all that.

Of course, we got neither, at least at the time. But I don't think any less of Peyton for it. He made the best choice for him.

 

I hate the fact that Peyton and Eli didn't choose to play for LSU as much as anybody else but look at it like this: Even though they all grew up in New Orleans I'm sure that the Manning boys have seen the tapes of the Tiger Stadium fans raining oranges on their Dad with his arm in a cast many times. Something like that is really going to make them diehard Tiger fans, right? Both Peyton and Eli could have chosen Miami, Notre Dame, Florida, Florida State, Texas, Oklahoma or any other team they wanted. Peyton chose Tennessee and he is now well on his way to the NFL Hall of Fame. Maybe he would have gone to Ole Miss if Cooper hadn't been injured for the chance to throw passes to his Wide Receiver brother. Who can blame him for that if it had happened? Eli could be the Oklahoma QB now on his way to a National Championship had he chosen to do it. Why did the Manning brothers chose to play for Ole Miss when they all could have done better for themselves elsewhere? Their Dad Archie is a Mississippi legend. Peyton had a great college career at Tennessee but if Cooper had been healthy he might well have gone to Ole Miss. I have been in out of the way small town Mississippi cafes and hole in the wall barbecue stands where Archie's picture is plastered all over the walls from pictures taken when he ate there. He is a legend. Why wouldn't his sons want to follow in his footsteps?