When Eli Manning was drafted, his dad Archie insisted on a trade to the Giants after the Chargers drafted him. Did Archie make a big stink about where his older son Peyton would play too? Why or why not?

I'm pretty familiar with this one. Consider Archie's history:

Archie grew up in a little town in the Mississippi Delta - a place where high school football players are revered as gods in human form. He attended Ole Miss (Univ. of Mississippi) on a football scholarship and became one of the biggest football stars in a long line of football stars in Ole Miss history. He was a quarterback, of course, and they're usually the stars of the team, anyway, but Archie was one of the best and brightest.

John Vaught coached Archie at Ole Miss. To get an idea of the atmosphere before and during the time Archie played for Ole Miss, read what ESPN said about John Vaught when he died:

"OXFORD, Miss. -- John Vaught, a Texas native who played at TCU before leading Mississippi to six Southeastern Conference titles and 18 postseason bowl appearances, has died at 96.

Vaught's influence lingers beyond the University of Mississippi stadium that now bears his name. Professional and college football teams still use his variations on offense.

Quarterbacks Charles Conerly, Jimmy Lear, Jake Gibbs, Doug Elmore, Glynn Griffing and Archie Manning brought national fame to Ole Miss under Vaught's tutelage from 1947-1970. Vaught's teams lost only two Southeastern Conference games from 1959-63.

He went 190-61-12 in 25 seasons at Ole Miss and served as athletic director for four years.

"With the death of John Vaught, we lose an epic figure of 20th century college football," Ole Miss chancellor Robert Khayat, who played for Vaught, said Saturday in a release. "Universally recognized as one of the great coaches in American football history, he brought dignity, intellect, creativity and vision to the game."

Born on May 6, 1909, in Olney, Texas -- about 100 miles northwest of Fort Worth -- Vaught played at TCU from 1930-32. A guard, he captained his TCU team and became the school's first All-American. He was inducted into the Texas Hall of Fame. He was inducted as a coach into the Mississippi Hall of Fame and National College Football Hall of Fame."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2318831

With that in mind, you can imagine the optimism with which Archie viewed his forthcoming pro football career after he graduated from Old Miss.

Well, guess what? The New Orleans Saints, aka "The Aints" drafted Archie. His rightly assumed stellar career pretty much fizzled in an expansion franchise that suffered from lack of funds, poor coaching, a small fan base, etc. The guy who was all set for NFL fame and fortune found little or none with the Aints. No championships, no SuperBowl ring, no nothing.

I remember the collective anticlimactic groan throughout the cities and towns of the SEC when he got drafted by the Saints. To get an idea of what it was like, imagine the following:

"Congratulations!! You, yes, YOU, LynfromNM, have just won a BRAND NEW CAR!! And not just any car - your new car is a beautiful new European sedan!!"

Then they hand you the keys to a Yugo.

Archie simply wanted a better NFL career for his sons than his. I love San Diego, but the Chargers have never exactly been a football powerhouse.

That's where Archie was coming from. Given what he went through, you can understand his feelings.

Archie didn't insist Eli play for the Giants, he insisted he not play for the Chargers. Archie didn't think the Chargers were dedicated to winning and had no future for his son. He said he didn't want his kid going through what he had to in his career. Obviously he had no idea of what he was talking about though.

No, he had no say in Peyton going to the Colts. I guess he thought they were a win oriented team.