Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame Exhibit Highlights More Than 90 Years of New Orleans Sports History
Class of 2026 New Orleans Hall of Fame featured Eli Manning, Peyton Manning and Bo McCalebb; Sunday’s Halftime Performer Shaquille O’Neal Featured in Exhibit as Two-Time Corbett Award Winner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rocco Gasparro, roccog@sugarbowl.org, 502-262-2258
NEW ORLEANS (Sept. 25, 2026) – As NFL fans gather at the Caesars Superdome for Sunday’s New Orleans Saints’ home opener, they can experience more than a football game. Fans can visit the newly renovated Allstate Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame exhibit at Gate A on the Loge Level and explore more than 90 years of Sugar Bowl history and its lasting connection to New Orleans sports.
The exhibit highlights the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s evolution from a New Year’s Day football classic into one of college football’s premier postseason events. It also celebrates the athletes, coaches and sports leaders who have helped shape the Bowl and the New Orleans sports community.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl’s commitment to New Orleans sports is reflected in the New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, which the Bowl sponsors. The newest addition features Class of 2026 inductees: Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, and Bo McCalebb.
Established in 1971, the Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding sports figures with significant connections to New Orleans, including athletes, coaches and sports leaders who have made an impact at the high school, college, amateur and professional levels.
The idea for a New Year’s Day football classic in New Orleans was first proposed in 1927 by New Orleans Item publisher Colonel James M. Thomson and sports editor Fred Digby. Digby continued to champion the idea until the inaugural Sugar Bowl was played on Jan. 1, 1935, when Tulane faced Temple.
Since then, the Sugar Bowl has hosted many of the greatest players, coaches and teams in college football history, including more national championship teams than any other bowl. The Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame, established in 2017, recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the Bowl’s storied past.
The exhibit also features the Manning Award, established by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to recognize the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. Presented annually to the nation’s top college quarterback, the Manning Award is unique among major college football quarterback awards because it is the only such award to consider a player’s bowl performance in its voting.
In its first 22 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 16 different schools and five different conferences.
The Southeastern Conference (Jayden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with nine Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Cam Ward, Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) have each had five winners.
The display also recognizes the James J. Corbett Award, established in 1967 to honor the memory of Corbett and his contributions to intercollegiate athletics and the Sugar Bowl. Presented annually, the Corbett Awards recognize the outstanding male and female collegiate athletes in Louisiana.
Corbett Award winners include 19 NFL players, 10 MLB players, four NBA players (including two Hall of Famers), 11 Olympians (including eight gold medal winners), three WNBA players, and one PGA star. Sunday’s Saints halftime performer, Shaquille O’Neal, is one of those two NBA Hall of Famers to have won the Corbett Award, and he won it twice - 1991 and 1992.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame exhibit provides NFL fans with an opportunity to learn more about the Bowl’s history, its position as an economic engine for the area and its important role in the New Orleans and Louisiana sports communities.