FoxSports – Back in 2004, Archie Manning actively tried to keep son Eli from being drafted by the then-hapless San Diego Chargers, who held the top overall pick… Sounds like Archie might again be dispensing advice regarding a No. 1 overall pick … though this time it’s directed to the Colts, longtime employers of one of Archie’s other sons, four-time MVP Peyton. Archie Manning was asked on FOXSports radio Tuesday if Indianapolis should draft Stanford QB Andrew Luck with the top pick next spring. “I don’t think it’d necessarily be great for either one,” he said regarding Peyton and Luck. “I think Andrew’s the type of mature player … he can walk right in (and play)…We know Andrew well. He comes down to our camp every year,” said Archie Manning, referring to the family’s offseason passing academy in Louisiana. He and Luck’s father, Oliver, were also teammates on the Houston Oilers in the 1980s. “Peyton’s always tried to help Andrew and kind of be a friend. (But) I doubt if either one of them want to play on the same team.”

With friends like these, who needs enemies, huh?  Is there no end to the Manning family’s sense of entitlement?  Archie in particular?  The NFL created a monster with this guy when they caved into his demands in that ’04 draft.  I mean, it’s one thing if he had Andrew Luck’s best interest at heart, came out and said he’d like to see things work out for the son of an old teammate.  But this isn’t about that.  This is 100% about him worried about someone younger and healthier coming along and taking his kid’s job.  Not what’s best for Luck. And certainly not what’s best for the team that’s kissed Peyton and Archie’s asses all these years and made Peyton the richest player in the history of the NFL.  Archie could give a rat’s taint if the Colts pass on a once-in-a-generation college QB only to find out Peyton is finished.  He only cares about his own.  He’s the geriatric version of a Pop Warner dad who thinks his kid should be the quarterback, the good of the team be damned.  Look, it might or might not be the smart move for Indy to take Luck.  But that’s their call to make.  It’s not up to the doting father of their rapidly aging, possibly finished franchise player.  If he is finished, I’m sure it will be hard for the Mannings to deal with, just like it was hard for the Culkins when Macauley got too old and they gave “Home Alone 3″ to Alex D. Linz.  Or the Fannings when Dakota started losing all the “precocious waif” roles to Abigail Breslin.  But sports parents like stage parents need to learn that even their precious little snowflake will get replaced eventually and there’s no use crying about it.  Now I know where Peyton gets it from:



@JerryThornton1