NEW ORLEANS — They say laughter is the best medicine. If it's true, there was a lot of healing and hope on Wednesday night at the Louisiana Legacy gala in New Orleans.
Archie and Olivia Manning were celebrated alongside their sons, Eli and Cooper, in a ceremony for their contributions to the Big Easy. The event served as the announcement that the local children's hospital will be renamed Manning Family Children's in their honor. Peyton Manning chimed in via a prerecorded video message. Former New Orleans Saints running back and Eli's Ole Miss teammate Deuce McAllister served as a presenter.
A second line band, shrimp and grits and a specialty cocktail called the Manning Margarita all made the event signature to the city. The joyful energy reflected the family's infectious positivity.
“I think I can speak on behalf of the entire family, it’s really hard to put into words to have a hospital named after you. This is not like making second-team All-SEC,” Archie quipped with media after the announcement of the hospital name. “We just have such admiration for this hospital and their leadership and for them to do this for our family is one of the greatest things I think that’s ever happened in my life.
“Peyton has Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. Eli has Eli Manning Children’s Clinic in Jackson, Mississippi. Cooper and I decided we need to get a Children’s Hospital fix. This is, I’m overwhelmed and really, really so appreciative.”
“Always excited every opportunity we get to come and want to find ways to give back and say thank you to the people of New Orleans," Eli added, "and one way to do that is helping the children’s hospital, make sure that the kids in New Orleans are getting the best care and that they have a chance to live healthy, happy lives and make sure they’re getting these wonderful treatments for everything going on. So it’s an honor for me to be a part of this in honor of my dad and my brothers and my mom for all the great work they’ve done around New Orleans and they legacy that they’ve built here.”
The jokes were flowing all night, especially from Cooper, who said having his mother on stage to ask questions was especially rare, noting that they were coming from someone she didn't trust her whole life, her mischievous oldest son. The matriarch shared one of her strongest memories of watching Archie play for the Saints, which was during one of the team’s hardest years. She recalled Cooper booing with the fans and asking for a brown paper bag to put over his head. The swanky crowd at Louisiana NOW Pavilion ahead of Super Bowl LIX erupted in laughter.
Eli offered his own joke by reflecting on winning Super Bowl XLII and saying that he and wide receiver David Tyree worked on the infamous helmet catch “all week in practice.” The comment elicited more roars of cheer.
Family friend Todd Graves added some special sauce by announcing a $1 million donation to Walker’s Imaginarium. The project is a new addition to the hospital facilities that will be a sort of children's museum to help kids get their minds off the difficulties of receiving treatment. Graves is the co-founder and CEO of Raising Cane's, who was the presenting sponsor of the gala. The entrepreneur will also serve as the parade king for the Super Bowl Host Committee Parade on Saturday.
The idea of Graves' donation came about when he and Eli were having dinner at Rao’s in New York and the quarterback offered a bet on an arm wrestling match. After an intense battle that featured Eli forcing himself all the way down in the restaurant booth, Graves did lose with a large smile on his face.
“You have to have a world-class hospital to be a world-class city and they’re doing a fantastic job of that,” Graves said at Louisiana Legacy. “So for us, it’s just one of the top things that’s most important on this. Knowing this is so important to the Manning Family and Archie and Olivia, Archie’s somebody I model myself after. What do you do in the community? How do you be good to people and what you should be?”
Manning Family Children’s served 585,000 kids last year, leaps and bounds ahead of its humble beginnings in 1955 when it opened its doors with 53 beds to treat children with polio. The facility welcomes all patients regardless of their ability to pay and offers behavioral health services, groundbreaking treatment for Sickle cell disease and has a program to raise awareness in the community about gun safety.
“We can’t do what we do without the support of the community and to have the Mannings by our side to tell that story loud and proud of the amazing work that our physicians and our care teams do, it’s going to be so important to make sure the kids get the help that they need,” hospital CEO Lou Fragoso said while wearing a sparkly gold jacket.
The jacket's glimmer reflected the joy in the eyes of attendees as the night offered hope for many years to come.
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