It started like any other NACE general session, but got interesting fast.

Football legend Archie Manning was about to kick off the NACE opening general session Nov. 6 in Las Vegas by talking about principles of business and football success. There was a buzz in the air amongst the standing-room only crowd of 1,050 — the largest ever for a NACE general session — to see and hear from the former NFL MVP and father of the last two Super Bowl MVPs, Peyton and Eli Manning.

Soon after he took the podium and loosened the crowd with a few jokes, Manning hoisted a brown and white football with the New Orleans Saints logo and said, “we got three footballs they told me I was supposed to throw them, so hear goes.”

He joked about no longer having the arm to go too many rows deep, and passed the ball toward the audience on his right. Then he bent down to pick up another football and pitched that a few rows deep to the center aisle.

While he was doing this, a Manning groupie in the row behind me was yelling out to his hero, “Hey Archie, throw it here Archie.” The large South Pacific ballroom in the Mandalay Bay Exposition center was fairly quiet as people anticipated making a reception from the All-American college quarterback from Ole Miss.

I perked up, put down my pen and notebook, thinking if Manning responds to his biggest fan in the huge conference hall by directing the third and final football toward him, I may have a shot at making the reception, or should I say interception.

Manning did just that and launched a third perfect spiral into the crowd in our direction. I didn’t hesitate. As the football zeroed in on us, I leaped from my chair and snagged it as several people uttered an appreciative “Ohhh,” I like to think in reverence of my pass-catching skills. The ball stuck like glue in my hands. After all, they didn’t call me “hands Adams” in junior high school football for nothing, you know. You can see my catch (I caught the third ball thrown) here: .

I examined my new souvenir and was delighted to see that it bore Archie Manning’s autograph. I felt only a little bad for the guy behind me. In this dog-eat-dog world of trade show conventions, it’s every conventioneer for himself.

Manning talked about football as a metaphor for life and business, and four principles that can help you succeed in both. You can find the story on search-autoparts.com (also known as abrn.com). Here’s a link to that article.

After his speech, Manning made a hasty exit faster than he used to flee from 300-pound offensive linemen trying to tear him apart. I abandoned thoughts of trying to get a picture taken with him.

But his No. 1 fan was not to be denied. He sprung up with the football he brought to the opening session and tracked down a fleeing Manning to get his autograph, returning with it triumphantly. I congratulated him, confident knowing that I had made the bigger catch.