Touchdown Club to honor Archie Manning, Burton Burns, Otis Washington, Bill Bumgarner at annual awards banquet

While the Touchdown Club of New Orleans’ annual banquet often attracts honorees from across the country, next week’s event will have a local feel to it.

Three natives of New Orleans and a longtime resident of the city will be honored by the club at its annual event March 3. The honorees were announced at a news conference Tuesday.

Former Saints quarterback Archie Manning will be the 29th recipient of the Pete Rozelle Award, given to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to pro football.

Besides his 14-year career as an NFL quarterback, Manning has left his mark on the game as a radio and television analyst on Saints broadcasts and more recently as the father of two of the sport’s top quarterbacks, Peyton and Eli.

Alabama associate head coach Burton Burns, who was part of a fifth national championship last month with the Crimson Tide, will be honored with the club’s Collegiate Award. Burns played at St. Augustine and the University of Nebraska before beginning a coaching career that reached the FBS level at Tulane in the mid-1990s before going to Clemson and Alabama.

Two of Burns’ bosses on the college level, Nick Saban and Tommy Bowden, are among the 13 previous College Award recipients.

Legendary St. Augustine coach Otis Washington will receive the club’s Prep Award. Washington won three state championships in a five-year span with the Purple Knights before moving to the college ranks as an assistant at LSU and head coach at Southern.

The Bob Roesler Media Award will go to retired local sportswriter Bill Bumgarner, who spent nearly four decades in the newspaper industry locally before a stint with Crescent City Sports’ previous iteration, SportsNOLA.com.

The Touchdown Club banquet is March 3 at the Windsor Court. Tickets are available by calling (504) 242-4545, by email at info@tdcno.com or by visiting tdcno.com.