The Mannings: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family

Archie Manning was a legendary quarterback at the University of Mississippi who spent 16 years on unsuccessful teams in the NFL. He raised three sons including Cooper, whose football career ended with an injury in high school, and two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks: Peyton and Eli. Peyton, a future Hall of Famer, has been the subject of many books, but the only biography of the family was John Underwood's Manning, which largely consisted of first-person accounts by Archie and Peyton. Here, Anderson (The Storm and the Tide) stresses family life and places emphasis on the mantra of Archie and even his father—be a nice person. The first half of this book deals with Archie's life and playing career, although comparatively little is included about his woeful time as a pro. Later chapters detail the upbringing of Archie's sons. Football heroics are the connecting thread but not the main point, as the book tries to depict the distinct personalities of each of the Mannings.