Top 44 Archie Manning Quotes

The worst part about getting in a rut in football is the weeks are so long.

I’ve said publicly, and it’s true, I’ve had a lot of wonderful things come my way. But personally, the greatest thing I ever accomplished was when I was named the starting quarterback at Ole Miss. That was my childhood dream, as it was thousands of kids in Mississippi.

I don’t feel any different than Tom Brady‘s daddy just because I played. I don’t think I’m any different from any other father who‘s got a son out there playing.

The Saints – it gave people joy.

You throw 40 times a game when you‘re first starting out, it’s a crash course.

When I showed interest in sports, my dad handled it right. I lost my dad when I was nineteen years old. Up until then, his policy on sports was that you can go out for any sport you want to – but don’t even think about quitting. If you don’t like it, you’re going to stick it out.

People say how unbelievable and enjoyable this whole thing must be. But watching your children play quarterback, putting themselves on the line every game, getting smacked around and bloodied up… it’s very, very hard.

Mardi Gras, the drinking, the partying – that scared me.

I didn’t want to be one of these pushy daddies.

I love New York.

As you get older, I have seen it a lot… fighting among siblings. The reason is usually money or spouses. But my kids don’t fall into that trap.

We never knew we’d have kids playing pro football or going to Super Bowls. That wasn’t ever a part of our plan in raising kids, so we really feel blessed.

I think the first thing that my sons will tell you, that I never tried to be their coach. And I didn’t give them as much advice as some people might think, being a former player myself and a former quarterback. If they asked, I gave them my opinion.

The game of football is always changing.

I cherish my time at Ole Miss. I cherish those four years.

The ’84 Bears were just like the ’85 Bears, they just didn’t win the Super Bowl. The defense was the same.

When you have a son playing, you pull real hard for his team.

When Peyton played, he was a grinder. I mean he was up early and late.

If you just make every effort to do the right thing, you’ll come out ok. It comes down to priorities and making good decisions.

Growing up in a small town of two thousand people, there wasn’t too many ways to get in trouble. But I found some. We got caught stealing green plums from this old lady‘s yard.

It’s no fun when you lose.

There are all sorts of challenging conversations as a parent and it’s never easy. I think the main thing is trying to be fair, sometimes there has to be a little bit of discipline, maybe even punishment involved in trying to make your child understand, learn from bad experiences and make sure they don’t happen again.

I’m very proud of high school, college and pro football, the strides have been made to make it a safer game.

With Eli – and all of my sons – I wanted to impress that as they grow older, they are going to have important decisions to make and at decision time, you can’t be 100% perfect, but try to evaluate things and do what’s right.

I’ve watched what coaches do for young people in our country.

I’ve always told my kids to have fun.

Cooper and Peyton really competed a lot, they fought a lot. But Eli was so much younger. He’s the little brother.

I decided not to pursue coaching. Even though the people in coaching are some of my best friends and people I admire the most.

The best we ever did was 8-8. But my career was not as dreadful as people make it out to be. You don’t see any scars on Archie Manning.

Emeril Lagasse is one of my great friends.

The quarterbacks who are picked in the first round and are declared – and I don’t like the word – busts, it’s not that the scouts were wrong about their ability or their potential. But commitment is such a huge part of it.

I’ve always said, in the era that I played, all those years with the Saints, you don’t come out with a big ego.

The only thing I could do better than Peyton was run.

I was a good daddy.

My wife, Olivia, always thought I was one day going to go into coaching. But after playing until I was 37, I didn’t want to subject my family to that nomad life. I think I definitely could have done it.

There’s nothing worse than seeing someone hurt out on the football field.

As a family, we didn’t get into the celebrity thing. That’s not what we wanted for the boys. We wanted them to play everything they could, be involved in as many school events as they could.

My first toy was an adjustable wrench I called ‘my wrencher.’

I’m as proud as the next guy, but I’ve always been a little skeptical of the daddies who walk around talking about what great athletes their kids are.

TPC Louisiana, where the Zurich Classic is held, is an outstanding course.

We just take pride that our sons have worked hard and they handle their position as a quarterback.

You never get used to losing.

I hate football.

People are just so passionate about football in the South. Great rivalries through the years. Unbelievable rivalries. It’s healthy.