Born in Drew, Mississippi, Manning was the son of Jane Elizabeth (nee Nelson) and Elisha Archibald Manning Jr. He grew up heavily involved in football, basketball, baseball, and track. His father, known as "Buddy", was interested in Archie's sports activities, but the nature of his job left him little if any time for attending games. Instead, Archie III drew his inspiration from a local high school sports star, James Hobson.

Manning was the second overall pick in the 1971 NFL Draft and played for the Saints for ten full seasons. During his tenure in New Orleans, the Saints had nine losing seasons. They only managed to get to .500 once, in 1979, which was also the only season they finished higher than third in their division. Nevertheless, he was well respected by NFL peers. For example, he was sacked 337 times during his Saints career. According to Sports Illustrated senior writer Paul Zimmerman, it should have been much more than that. However, Zimmerman wrote, 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 ass off." Today, Manning jokes that Youngblood's career would not have been as successful without him. He even suggested that Youngblood should have let him be his presenter when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001, saying, "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, spending the second half of that season in the team's radio booth after Dick Butkus abruptly quit his position as color commentator. 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 nor made the playoffs.  The Saints have not reissued Manning's No. 8 since he left the team midway through the 1982 season.

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