Lunch with Archie Manning

It's an unusual week to have Archie Manning address an Arkansas crowd in light of Ole Miss being on the Razorbacks' schedule this Saturday, but he gave a great address today at the Statehouse Convention Center as part of the Anne Hickman Lectureship series for Arkansas Children's Hospital. Several hundred were in attendance, including David Pryor, Beebe Chief of Staff Morril Harriman, and a handful of legislators. The Manning story is a great one, and one of the toughest battles Archie and his family faced included the diagnosis of Cooper Manning (the eldest son) with a spinal condition called stenosis when he was a senior in high school. He also focused on teaching children to develop an attitude of leadership, enabling them to take the lead in motivating themselves and their peers.