Mannings return for annual passing academy

With the NFL firmly entrenched in a lockout, fans across the globe are starved for football.

Two of the world’s best quarterbacks will be in the Tri-parish area this week to feed that fix.

The 16th Annual Manning Passing Academy will begin tomorrow on Nicholls State University’s campus.

The public’s reward will come Saturday at 6 p.m. when both Peyton Manning, Eli Manning and the camp’s always prestigious counselors take part in the ‘Air it Out’ passing competition at John L. Guidry Stadium.

Admission for that event is $5.

“The city of Thibodaux has just been tremendous to us in helping make this event a success,” Peyton Manning said at last year’s event. “We love coming here and enjoy the support we have from Nicholls State to keep things moving in the right direction.”

The Manning Passing Academy has become one of the go-to events for blossoming high school quarterbacks, halfbacks, receivers and tight ends.

The camp got its earliest roots at Tulane University, then shifted to Southeastern Louisiana Unversity, before making Nicholls its home in 2005.

Each year, more than 1,000 players soak in the knowledge and teachings of the All-Pro quarterbacks and New Orleans natives.

That’s truly what the camp is about, according to the Mannings, teaching.

“Some people get the wrong idea that this camp is about blue-chip, five-star athletes,” Archie Manning said at last year’s event. “But that’s not what we’re about. We really just want to take those high school quarterbacks and receivers and help them to get better and talk to them about the passion of playing football so that they can enjoy the high school experience.”

The Mannings alone aren’t the only reason why the camp’s a hit. They also bring friends along to join the party, friends who are among some of the brightest minds and greatest talents in the world of football.

Last year’s list of camp counselors consisted of Heisman Trophy finalist Andrew Luck, NFL first round draft pick Christian Ponder and Boise State quarterback Kellan Moore.

Joining that group was ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer and dozens of college coaches across the country.

The camp doesn’t release a list of counselors from year-to-year, so it is not yet known who will be at the 2011 event.

But Luck is still enrolled at Stanford and expressed last year that the counseling experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

It would not be a surprise if he were back again learning from who he describes as the “best around.”

“As a quarterback, you soak up their words like they are diamonds or gold or something that’s just priceless,” Luck said. “This camp is just very enlightening and a lot of fun, as well. All of the people here are willing to help you out. They know they’re not above us in any way. It’s a great experience.”

The camp begins Thursday and several practice fields will be scattered across the Nicholls campus for the four-day event.

By night, the campers will rest in the Nicholls dorms and the pros will take to the town and have been known to rub elbows and make friends at Thibodaux businesses, a win/win situation for everyone involved.

“This is a great town,” 2010 counselor and former Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson said at last year’s event. “I think the Mannings being from this area in the New Orleans area is just huge, because people come out and watch … and it’s just so cool to see the respect people in this area have for the Mannings. Anything to give back to the community is special, especially this one, because these people are special.”

“It’s been awesome. I love this city,” fellow past counselor and former Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts agreed. “We were out and about last night, and it was a lot of fun. Everyone here are super nice people. They’re just down to earth regular people … I love it here.”

Ready or not, the first family of football is ready to roll back into town.

With the lockout firmly in place, it just may be the last time you see them tossing a football on the gridiron for a long time.