Colts on for Mississippi's first NFL exhibition

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi's first NFL exhibition game in a decade will feature some significant ties to the Magnolia State.\nOn one sideline, a Manning. On the other, a player known here simply as Deuce.\nWhen the New Orleans Saints travel nearly 200 miles north to Jackson to play the Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 26, the focus will be on the two stars with the strongest local connections -- Peyton Manning and Deuce McAllister.\nThe Colts quarterback's father, Archie Manning, grew up in tiny Drew, Miss., and starred at the University of Mississippi before becoming the most famous player in Saints history. Peyton's younger brother, Eli, was a Heisman Trophy finalist at Ole Miss in 2003.\n"What I'm looking forward to finding out is which sideline Archie's going to be on," Saints coach Sean Payton quipped Thursday at a news conference announcing the game.\nMcAllister, a Lena native, starred at running back for Ole Miss before the Saints selected him in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft. He owns a car dealership in Jackson.\nAlso, receiver Joe Horn played at Itawamba Community College in Fulton and backup running back Fred McAfee is from Division III Mississippi College.\nThose connections, plus the state's close relationship with New Orleans, made Jackson an ideal choice to host the Saints' third game of the preseason, owner Tom Benson said.\nEarlier Thursday, the Saints announced they would play a Monday night exhibition game against the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 21 in Shreveport, La., five days before the game in Jackson. Other cities considered were Lafayette, La., and Mobile, Ala.\n"Jackson, since it represented Mississippi, it represented what we needed to do in getting the whole state of Mississippi ... to be in our corner," Benson said.\nThe owner repeatedly referred to his team as the "Gulf South Saints" because he said the team plays for the multistate region -- not just New Orleans.\nThe players with Mississippi ties "really, sincerely feel and want to help with rebuilding this whole region, the whole Gulf South," Benson said.\n"We here in Mississippi and in Louisiana, the whole Gulf South, are committed," Benson added. "We can't just let the people in Biloxi or New Orleans commit. We all have to commit to make this thing better than it ever was before."\nBenson said the idea to play an exhibition game in Jackson struck last fall. It picked up momentum last month when Benson and NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue met with Gov. Haley Barbour in Jackson to thank him for his state's support after Hurricane Katrina.\nThe Saints scrimmaged in Jackson last August weeks before Katrina ravaged the region. When the killer storm struck, the team fled to San Antonio and split its home games between the Alamodome and Baton Rouge.\n"We've all been through this hurricane thing, and we know where sports is with regard to loss of life, loss of homes," Archie Manning said. "But 35 years ago, I left this great state and went to New Orleans and have been involved with the Saints for that period of time.\n"I can sincerely tell you that the Saints are an emotional part of, not only New Orleans, but the Gulf South," he added.