Archie Manning - NFL Career

NFL Career

After his college career at Ole Miss, Manning was drafted in the 1971 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints with the second overall selection.

Manning played for the Saints for ten full seasons. He was usually one of the few marquee players on a dreadful team. During his tenure in New Orleans, the Saints had nine losing seasons, and only managed to get to .500 once (1979). Nevertheless, he was well respected by NFL peers. For example, he was sacked 340 times during his Saints career. According to Sports Illustrated senior writer Paul Zimmerman, opposing defensive linemen, "Jack Youngblood in particular," were known to take it easy on the poorly protected Manning and not hit him as hard.

For his part Manning seemed to appreciate Youngblood's kindness, telling the Los Angeles Times, on September 23, 1974, "The Rams front four is the best I ever faced . . . I've got to say that Youngblood was nice enough to pick me up every time he knocked my (butt) off." Today, Manning jokes that Youngblood's career would not have been as successful without him, "I really should be his presenter. He wouldn’t have gotten in without having me to sack."

In 1972 he led the league in pass attempts and completions and led the National Football Conference in passing yards, though the team's record was only 2–11–1. Archie sat out the entire 1976 season after corrective surgery on his right shoulder. In 1978, he was named the NFC Player of the Year by UPI after leading the Saints to a 7–9 record. That same year, Archie was also named All-NFC by both the UPI and The Sporting News.

Manning was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1978 and 1979. He went on to conclude his career with the Houston Oilers (1982–1983), and the Minnesota Vikings (1983–1984). He ended his 13-year career having completed 2,011 of 3,642 passes for 23,911 yards and 125 touchdowns, with 173 interceptions. He also rushed for 2,197 yards and 18 touchdowns. His 2,011 completions ranked 17th in NFL history upon his retirement. His record as a starter was 35–101–3 (26.3%), the worst in NFL history among QBs with at least 100 starts. He retired having never played on a team that notched a winning record or made the playoffs.