Mannings polish players’ skills

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck took a quick, five-step drop before firing a bullet pass through the hands of a leaping receiver Thursday at John L. Guidry Stadium in Thibodaux.

“Set those feet, Drew,” said a voice from the other end of the field.

On most occasions, Luck would take the advice with a grain of salt, as the Cardinal quarterback is one of the best collegiate signal callers in America.

But the young quarterback was all ears this time, because the tip was coming from future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, who helped host the 15th Annual Passing Academy this past week in Thibodaux with his brothers Cooper and Eli and his father Archie.

“It’s an honor, first of all,” said Luck, who was a camp counselor this year. “As a quarterback, you soak up their words like they are diamonds or gold or something that’s just priceless. 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.”

More than 1,000 football players from all across the country gathered in Thibodaux during the camp, which lasted from Thursday-Sunday.

And while Luck, as well as Houston quarterback Case Keenum, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder and reigning national championship quarterback Greg McElroy attract everyone’s eyes, Archie Manning said the camp is now, and will always be geared toward high school talent.

“Some people get the wrong idea that this camp is about blue-chip, five-star athletes,” Archie said. “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.”

This marked the sixth-straight year the camp was held at Thibodaux on Nicholls’ campus.

Fans showed up in large numbers to show their appreciation all throughout the week, despite the sometimes painful summer temperatures.

Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts said the people of Thibodaux welcomed all of the campers with open arms all throughout the week.

“It’s been awesome. I love this city,” he said. “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.”

Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson agreed and said the city of Thibodaux has become one of the trademarks of the camp because of the way they treat the campers during their stay.

“This is a great town,” he said. 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.”

While the Thibodaux visit is a first for many of the campers, it’s home sweet home for Peyton, Eli, Cooper and Archie.

In addition to giving back to the young quarterbacks of America, the family said the camp serves as a trip back to the past when they were all children in a New Orleans household.

“It’s fun,” Eli said. “We’re all in the same rooms, hanging out … It’s good times at night or during little breaks to hang out or catch up … You know, we don’t get Thanksgiving or Christmas to get the family together … We talk about a lot of old times and old stories. We don’t do as many pranks as we probably would have done when we were younger, but we have a lot of laughs … Cooper’s usually doing the talking and telling the stories and I’m usually laughing.”

Peyton agreed and said the camp is just one of a handful of times he gets to see his brothers and father in a year.

“For Eli and I, it’s only about four times or so that we’re together for the whole year,” Peyton said. “Once August 1 gets here, I probably won’t see Eli again until the end of the season. My dad and Cooper, they only get to come to maybe two or three home games a year, and even then, you’re only getting to see them on a Sunday night after the game, so it’s kind of rushed. So to be here and have this time together where we’re staying in the dorm together … it’s a lot of fun.”

Archie Manning welcomes fans to the 2010 Air it Out Session of the Manning Passing Academy. The session featured some of the top collegiate passers in America. CASEY GISCLAIR