The Archie Manning Era- Franchise Legend
- Saints Hall of Fame
- Fan Favorite & Franchise Great
Archie Manning
- Position
- QBQuarterback
- Number
- #8
- Saints years
- 1971–1982
- NFL career
- 1971–1984
- Era
- The Archie Manning Era
- Franchise
- New Orleans Saints
Honors
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
- NFC Player of the Year
- 2x Pro Bowl
Also played for Houston Oilers (1982–1983), Minnesota Vikings (1983–1984).
Why he’s a legend
The legacy
Archie Manning was the second overall pick of the 1971 draft and won his first NFL game with a touchdown run on the last play. Over the next eleven seasons he threw for more yards than any Saint before Drew Brees, was named NFC Player of the Year in 1978, and never once played on a team with a winning record. He is the franchise’s clearest illustration that individual greatness and team results are different measurements.
Why he matters
- Second in franchise history in passing yards, behind only Drew Brees, with 21,734 as a Saint.
- Named NFC Player of the Year in 1978, on a team that finished 7–9.
- Two Pro Bowl selections, in 1978 and 1979, taken behind offensive lines that surrendered among the most sacks in the league.
- He never appeared in a playoff game in a fourteen-year career — the definitive fact about the era he played in.
- A Mississippi native who stayed in New Orleans and became the franchise’s connective figure across generations of fans.
Defining moment
The debut
1971 season
In his first NFL game, Manning scored on a one-yard run on the final play to beat the Los Angeles Rams 24–20 at Tulane Stadium. It was the kind of afternoon the next eleven seasons rarely repeated, and it is why the city adopted him immediately.
Career statistics
Current through the 1984 season
With the Saints
- Passing Yards
- 21,734
- Seasons
- 11Twelve calendar years; he missed the entire 1976 season with injury.
- Draft
- 1971, 2nd overall
Where he ranks
- #2All-Time Saints Passing Yards21,734Saints all-time
Best seasons
Best season
1978 — Archie Manning
NFC Player of the Year
- First Pro Bowl selection
- First 16-game season in NFL history
- Saints improved to 7–9
The season the NFL liberalised its passing rules and Manning was immediately the best quarterback in the conference. The team still finished under .500, which is the whole story of his career in one line.
Honors & accolades
Championships & enshrinement
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
League awards & All-Pro
- NFC Player of the Year1978
Selections & records
- 2x Pro Bowl1978, 1979
Career timeline
14 seasons in the NFL, 12 of them in New Orleans.
- 1971New Orleans SaintsDrafted 2nd overall out of Ole Miss; wins his debut on the final play
- 1972New Orleans Saints
- 1973New Orleans Saints
- 1974New Orleans Saints
- 1975New Orleans SaintsThe Superdome opens
- 1976New Orleans SaintsMisses the entire season with injury
- 1977New Orleans Saints
- 1978New Orleans SaintsNFC Player of the Year; first Pro Bowl
- 1979New Orleans SaintsSaints finish 8–8, the best record of his tenure
- 1980New Orleans Saints
- 1981New Orleans Saints
- 1982New Orleans SaintsTraded to Houston
- 1983Houston Oilers
- 1984Minnesota Vikings
Era context
What the league looked like while Archie Manning played it. Raw totals across eras are not like-for-like.
The Archie Manning Era
1971–1980
A quarterback good enough to be beloved on teams never good enough to win.
- Seasons ran 14 games through 1977 and 16 games from 1978 onward.
- The 1978 rule changes — the five-yard contact rule and liberalised pass blocking — began the modern passing era. Raw passing totals before and after 1978 are not comparable.
- The Saints moved into the Louisiana Superdome in 1975.
- The franchise did not post a winning season during this period.
Dome Patrol & The First Winners
1981–1996
The franchise finally wins — and builds the best linebacking corps the NFL had seen.
- Sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982, so career sack totals begin there.
- The 1982 season was shortened to nine games by a players strike; 1987 was shortened to fifteen, three of them played by replacement players.
- The salary cap arrived in 1994 and changed how long a roster could stay together.
- The Saints reached the playoffs four times in this era and did not win a postseason game.
Data & sources
Statistics on this profile are current through the 1984 season.
- Passing totals from the 1970s are not comparable with modern ones: seasons were 14 games long through 1977, and the rule changes that opened up the passing game did not arrive until 1978.
- A complete, verified season-by-season line is not compiled in this profile, so no season table is shown.
