Why Eli Manning is the King of Mississippi

When you think "Eli Manning," you think New York. You think about him evading blitzes in a Super Bowl, scrambling around before hitting a receiver who made a catch for the ages. You think about commercials, and you think about his brother. 

Unless you live in Mississippi. People there knew Eli before he was the "unstoppable" watch spokesman and de-throner of the Patriots' perfect season. They knew Eli before he spurned San Diego in the draft. They knew Eli as the young man who followed his father's trail to Ole Miss and became a star, giving the Rebels the best quarterbacking they've had in recent memory. 

That's why, even more than eight years since he graduated and moved to Metropolis to play, he's the king of Mississippi. When Bleacher Report ran a poll asking fans to crown their local king, Mississippi tabbed Manning. 

Before the bright lights and scrutiny that's come with his tenure quarterbacking the Giants, he was the darling of Oxford. 

There, in that landlocked college town with a population smaller than Madison Square Garden's capacity, the future carpetbagger showed his Southern charm on the field for four amazing seasons.

He owned defenses, came up with big-time throws and big plays. He showed that the quarterbacking genes didn't just stop after Archie and Peyton. He proved he was a first-round caliber quarterback, all while leading Ole Miss to heights of national relevance usually reserved for the SEC neighbors in Birmingham and Gainesville. 

By the end of college, Manning had 84 touchdowns, more than 10,000 yards passing, and a quarterback rating of 138.1. He won awards like the Conerly Trophy, which honors the best player in Mississippi, twice. 

In a state that has no professional teams, where the state of Ole Miss football is a good way to check the pulse of the people, Manning's time there left an indelible impression. It's why he's the Magnolia State's king.