Eli Manning has offered his college-footback-playing nephew, Arch Manning, a simple warning: tread carefully when speaking with the media.
The two-time Super Bowl winner told Front Office Sports that most of his guidance for Arch would focus on football. Still, Eli emphasized that the Texas quarterback—widely projected as a top-five NFL draft pick—must be cautious when dealing with reporters.
“Most of my advice, more football stuff,” Eli Manning said. “He’ll have to figure out that media on his own, and a lot of it is just kind of growing pains. You feel like they’re your pal, you relax with them a little bit, you try to be funny, and then they can take it and run.
“So you just gotta be careful. You gotta find your moments where you can be funny, you can be relaxed, but there’s certain things that you know you just gotta learn and deal with it. And I think he has learned, and he apologized and did the right steps in handling that.”
Arch Manning and the Longhorns are 3-0 after defeating Ohio State, which had been ranked No. 1 at the time. The victory was followed by a media controversy involving both the Texas quarterback and coach Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian drew attention after declining an interview with ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe. Instead, he shouted, “Go Texas, fight! Let’s go Texas, fight! Hook ’em,” before walking away without answering questions.
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Several days later, Arch addressed reporters and referenced an AI-generated video depicting a digital version of Sarkisian slapping Rowe.
“I’ve seen a few AI edits and stuff, but that’s about it. I saw AI edits of Sark’s interview,” Manning said, prompting laughter in the room.
“Have y’all seen that one? That’s a good one,” Arch added with a smile. “Of him slapping Holly Rowe? That’s hilarious.”
Arch apologized directly to Rowe the following day. She accepted the apology and expressed hope that the incident could be put behind them.
“In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video,” Manning wrote Tuesday in an Instagram Story. “There is nothing funny about it. It’s easy to say I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I do not take that lightly and am deeply sorry for that.”
Texas will meet No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday at noon ET on ABC, with Rowe serving as the sideline reporter.