What happened to Cooper Manning?

The Manning family is football royalty. Starting with the patriarch of the Manning football dynasty, Archie Manning, the family has seen numerous members achieve high acclaim in the sport.

Everyone knows Peyton and Eli Manning’s names, but their older brother Cooper isn’t as well known. That’s not due to a lack of talent — he, too, had massive potential as a footballer — but a medical issue prevented the eldest Manning brother from reaching the heights of his siblings.

That didn’t end his relationship with the sport, however. Football is in his blood, and, despite his lack of a future in the sport, the eldest Manning brother kept one foot on the field. Even as he pivoted into a career in investment, Manning continued to keep an eye on the family sport, and these days his various football shows keep him nice and involved in the longstanding family tradition.

Why did Cooper Manning retire from football?

Manning had sky-high prospects when he left high school for a sought-after spot on the University of Mississippi’s team, but he didn’t make it far into his football career before stepping back. Following in his dad’s footsteps, Manning dedicated massive time and energy to the sport across his youth, and by the time he went to college, he was considered a highly ranked prospect.

Then, during summer practices ahead of the school year, Manning noticed a numbness spreading through his hands and fingers. That, paired with minor atrophy in his right bicep, prompted Manning to visit a doctor, where he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, or a narrowing of the spinal canal. The condition isn’t overly serious, but it does tend to get worse with time, and its escalated massively by “wear and tear.” Which is exactly what a continued football career would have offered up. A bad hit could have left Manning paralyzed or with lifelong injuries, and it simply wasn’t worth it.

So Manning quit the sport for good, before he ever truly had a chance to establish himself. It was the end of his football career, but that decision actually may have been for the best — at least where his brothers are concerned. In the decades since he quit football, the eldest Manning brother has offered his siblings unshakeable support, advice, and is their perpetual cheerleader, and they’ve given him the chance to live his football dreams vicariously.