Ole Miss football legend Archie Manning will get statue on campus
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OXFORD — Ole Miss football great Archie Manning will be getting a statue outside the Manning Center.
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An Ole Miss spokesperson confirmed the news to the Clarion Ledger on Aug. 8, and said the school will have more information in the coming days.
Manning, 77, is one of the most revered figures in the history of the Ole Miss program. He was the star quarterback for Ole Miss from 1968-70 under coach Johnny Vaught. Manning also played baseball at Ole Miss.
Manning ended his Ole Miss career with 56 touchdowns, which was a school record, and 5,576 yards of total offense. He finished No. 3 in Heisman Trophy voting in 1970. He was a 1989 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame and was drafted No. 2 overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 1971 NFL Draft.
Additionally, Manning is the father of NFL greats Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. Eli played for Ole Miss from 2000-03 and was third in Heisman Trophy voting in 2003. Archie Manning now runs the Manning Passing Academy with his sons.
Archie's grandson, Arch, is the quarterback for Texas and considered a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy.
The Manning patriarch has already been honored on the Ole Miss campus in other ways. Speed limit signs on campus are 18 miles per hour, which is a nod to Archie's number for the Rebels. Ole Miss football practices in the Olivia and Archie Manning Athletics Performance Center.
Manning is the second Ole Miss football player to be honored with a statue. Chucky Mullins has a movable bust that is prominently featured on football game days in the Ole Miss tunnel. Mullins was paralyzed in a 1989 game and died in 1991 due to complications from the injury.
Vaught, Coolidge Ball and Tim Elko are other Ole Miss athletic statues on campus.
Vaught is Ole Miss' winningest football coach with 190 victories, and his statue was dedicated in 2008.
Ball was the first Black athlete at Ole Miss, playing basketball from 1971-74. His statue was unveiled in 2021.
Elko was a star player on the 2022 Ole Miss baseball team that won the College World Series. Elko's statue was unveiled in 2024.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football legend Archie Manning will get statue on campus