Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss prepare to honor Eli Manning with jersey retirement
The endzones are painted, the stadium will be packed and the proverbial red carpet will be rolled out at Vaught Hemingway Stadium, as Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels prepare to honor Eli Manning against LSU on Saturday.
Manning, who played for Ole Miss from 2000-2003, is having his No. 10 retired this weekend in a ceremony that was originally delayed due to COVID-19. He’ll become just the third player in Ole Miss to have his jersey retired, joining his father Archie (No. 18) and Chucky Mullens (No. 38).
“Obviously, they’re the university, the Manning family. “I have always had great respect for them,” Kiffin said. “It’ll be a really Saturday. I tweeted something this morning — I mean, I’d think this would be a very hot ticket right now to go see Eli Manning and Matt Corral. So, it’ll be a pretty cool thing Saturday.”
Kiffin referenced his retweet of a post by SEC Network’s account, which revealed the new-look endzones for Saturday’s contest. Ole Miss is painting its endzones to honor the two-time Super Bowl Champion, with each displaying “Manning” rather than the typical “Ole Miss Rebels.”
Manning is Ole Miss’ all-time leading passer with 10,119 passing yards, and he holds the program record for career touchdown passes with 84. In 2003, his final season with the Rebels, Manning finished third in Heisman Trophy voting, while being named to the All-SEC first team and winning SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Manning, a four-year letterwinner, tied or set 47 Ole Miss single-game, season and career records during his time at Oxford, three of which he served as Ole Miss’ starter.
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He later became the only Ole Miss player to be selected with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, surpassing his father, Archie, who was selected with the second overall pick after his Ole Miss career. Manning was taken by the San Diego Chargers — then traded to the New York Giants — in the 2004 NFL Draft. Come Sunday, Kiffin will be apart of the ceremony that immortalizes Manning’s collegiate career, as Ole Miss went 24-13 in Manning’s three seasons as the starter.
Manning, the 2003 Maxwell Trophy Winner, was supposed to attend Ole Miss-Auburn in 2020 for the ceremony, which was then delayed due to COVID-19. In the press release specifying its postponement, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter expressed excitement similar to Kiffin’s.
“We couldn’t be prouder or more excited to officially add Eli’s No. 10 to its rightful place among the retired jersey numbers in our football history,” Carter said in a statement. “Like Chucky and Archie, Eli left an indelible impact on our program and the game of football as a whole. His dedication, humility and kindness over the course of his career epitomizes what it means to be a Rebel, and we look forward to celebrating him as a player and a person.”