NFL Countdown: Archie Manning's 1971 Draft establishes foundation for league's most successful family

In 1971, the NFL Manning dynasty began with the second overall pick in the 1971 NFL draft with the selection of Archie. The first of several pro football quarterbacks from the family ended up playing for the New Orleans Saints for ten full seasons.

They weren't perfect. Nine of those seasons came with losing records by the end of them in the Big Easy, but the 1970s set the stage for a family that would dominate in the NFL for two decades in the new millennium.

Peyton takes the baton as the best Manning with the Colts fairly quickly

After the Colts nailed the No. 1 pick in 1998 with the selection of Tennessee's -- and not Ole Miss', despite his father Archie making a name for himself in Oxford, Mississippi -- Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf, Indianapolis soared to the top of the standings by 1999.

Peyton's Colts struggled during his rookie season, but he took them from 3-13 to 13-3 by year two. He personally had a historic initial campaign in both a positive way (record-setting 26 TDs) and negative way (record-setting 28 INTs), but cleaned up his act by nearly cutting his interception total in half in 1999 while maintaining his lofty TD total.

During his retirement press conference, the longtime Colts/Broncos signal-caller joked that he always hoped some rookie would break his dubious rookie INT record:

"I set the NFL rookie record [for] interceptions — a record that I still hold today. Every year, I pull for a rookie quarterback to break that record. Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning, Cam Newton. I still kid Eli that he would've broken it if he had started all 16 games."

By 2003, Peyton was an NFL MVP, sharing the award with the now-deceased former Tennessee Oilers/Titans and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair. He would finish with 4,267 yards and 29 touchdowns that season.

Eli Manning takes the baton for most Super Bowl wins in the family in 2012

With the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers selected the next Manning brother in a now-proven family line, Eli. The union didn't last long as he forced a trade to the New York Giants for the No. 4 pick, Phillip Rivers.

Truthfully, Chargers fans got a more consistent quarterback with Rivers, who just retired after the 2020 season after a year with the Colts. He spent his previous 16 years in San Diego and Los Angeles. The Giants got two Super Bowl wins with Eli Manning, though, so all the interceptions and head-scratching play-calls were worth it in the end.

It took two years for Eli to match Peyton (and surpass father Archie) in Super Bowl wins after the older second-generation Manning brother finally led the Colts to a Super Bowl XLI victory in 2006. Better yet, Eli knocked off the man Peyton had trouble taking down his whole career, Tom Brady.

Super Bowl XLII was one of the greatest championship narratives in the history of professional sports. The 2007 Giants were picked against by analysts during every game of their run to the NFC Championship, and in the final game, they were multi-score underdogs going up against a 18-0 Patriots team seeking their second title in four years and their fourth of the Tom Brady-era.

A David Tyree helmet catch later, and No. 10 did the unthinkable: a Super Bowl MVP and a tie in the title standings with the statistically superior Peyton. Things would get even more interesting four years later.

The 2011 NFL season, somehow, concluded with the same two teams doing battle with different weapons for both Eli Manning and Tom Brady in their Super Bowl XLVI. With an epic fourth quarter catch by Mario Manningham along the sidelines that honored Tyree's "helmet catch" four years prior, Eli led another last-minute comeback to win a second championship and surpass his older brother Peyton in rings on his finger.

Peyton soars past Eli with the Denver Broncos

Peyton Manning had serious health concerns in the 2011 offseason. He had neck surgery after being unable to complete his throwing motion. Peyton ended up needing spinal fusion surgery, effectively ending his Colts career. Many feared that'd be the last we'd see of the older Manning brother.

Instead, just a month after Eli surpassed him in championships, Peyton set the stage for his next Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. Jon Elway convinced him to spurn the Arizona Cardinals and make his home the Mile High city, inking Peyton to a five-year, $96 million contract.

In his first season with the Broncos, he threw for 4,659 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. In 2013, Peyton, somehow, elevated his play by throwing for 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards, setting the record in both categories. The Broncos went to that year's Super Bowl after his fifth regular season MVP, but the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks blew Denver's door's down and won the franchise's first and only Super Bowl.

By 2016, No. 18 was winding down, appearing in just 10 regular season games and throwing nine touchdowns to 17 interceptions. Still, Denver's defense was good enough to carry him to a second Super Bowl championship, tying Eli in rings and solidifying a superior career in just about every category.

The future of the family is headed to Texas

In the University of Texas' jump to the SEC in 2025, the Longhorns will be led by recent Class of 2023 commit Arch Manning, the son of Eli and Peyton's older brother Cooper.

Arch is the No. 1 overall recruit in next year's class and was, perhaps, the most highly sought-after prospect in the NCAA's NIL era -- where players can get paid for endorsement deals from program boosters.

He is expected to be the next great gunslinger in a family line that has defined the National Football League since the 1970s, but truly rose to prominence during the 2000s and 2010s.