ROUSES_SeptOct2019_Magazine

Letter from the Editor by Marcy Nathan, Creative Director

You don’t have to be a Manning, or go to school with one, to appreciate high school football. If pro football is a game measured in wins and losses, high school football is one measured in moments and memories. In high school, you’re playing alongside or cheering for the classmates you’ve grown up with. These are your friends. It’s your school. In New Orleans, when people ask me where I went to school, they don’t mean college or graduate, they mean high school . Here, high school is forever. Cooper’s son Arch — named for his grandpa Archie — is a freshman this fall and starting at quarterback. No pressure there. Every Newman alum, never mind every SEC recruiter, has their eyes on Arch.

Football is one of many things that still make me proud of Newman, even after I’ve long stopped going to — and cheering at — the games. I was a cheerleader, and my high school sweetheart was a football player. Being a high school cheerleader, like being a high school football player, is something you never forget. My favorite cheer involved pork chops...pork chops... I was clearly destined to work for Rouses.

Every school has its own lineup of legendary athletes; the ones whose trophies and helmets are displayed in glass cases near the gym, and whose jerseys have been retired. My school’s famed players happen to be named Manning. And Beckham (Odell, not David). The Manning legacy at Isidore Newman in New Orleans began nearly 30 years ago with Cooper, the oldest of Archie and Olivia Manning’s three sons, playing wide receiver for the Greenies. Cooper put up school-record numbers under Coach Tony Reginelli, who also taught Driver’s Ed, and who made me drive across the old Huey P. Long Bridge for the first — and last — time in my life. Cooper signed with Ole Miss on a football scholarship, Archie’s alma mater, but was sidelined by a diagnosis of spinal stenosis before his first game. Younger brother Peyton was named starting quarterback when he was just a sophomore. That year he played alongside Cooper, then a senior, and took the team to the state semifinals. Peyton led the Greenies to a 34-5 record during three seasons at quarterback. He was the number-one recruited high school quarterback in the nation, and the first overall pick in the 1998 draft. Younger brother Eli was equally talented. He was recruited to Ole Miss and chosen first overall in the 2004 NFL draft. Peyton and Eli are both two-time Super Bowl champions. No doubt, their photos will hang in the NFL Hall of Fame. But for Isidore Newman alumni, Peyton, Eli and Cooper will always be Greenies. Polaroids from their Newman days are tacked on our local Wall of Fame at Domilise’s, the classic po-boy joint serving fried shrimp with cheddar and roast beef gravy.

I never was one for college football — other than the tailgating, of course — but my alma maters (Vanderbilt and Tulane) weren’t exactly known for football in those days. So I graduated from high

THAT'S ME IN THE MIDDLE!

school football straight to the Saints. I love the Saints like few others things. I bleed black and gold. I was there at the Dome opener in 2006. I helped plan the Buddy D. Parade in 2010. Like most on the Gulf Coast, I boycotted the Super Bowl earlier this year in solidarity with the team and other fans. Yes, I’m still bitter. When the Saints aren’t playing, I pull for Eli’s team, the Giants. And Odell is on my fantasy team. ESPN says the real action is over at Isidore Newman, where the next great NFL quarterback named Manning is already turning heads.

“ I wear the same shirt to every game — until it stops working. Then I change outfits. Donny Rouse asked me if I wash the shirt between games. Uh, no, that would wash off the juju! My sister Courtney won’t buy a jersey because she thinks it’s a jinx on the player. She says you can thank her for Brees, Kamara and Morstead later.” - MARCY NATHAN ; MY SAINTS SUPERSTITION

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