Arch Manning: Can the Texas QB Carry the Weight of Football Royalty?

Illustration by Peter Townsend

Manning.

The name is synonymous with football royalty.

The name is synonymous with football culture. American culture. A name, in some regards, like the name Kennedy. It demands and personifies the utmost respect.

Being a New York Giants fan, I am well acquainted with the Manning name. I am so acquainted with the name that it was with much frustration, that I watched as Eli didn’t make it into the Hall of Fame in this previous induction. Two Super Bowl wins. Two Super bowl MVPs. Underdog in both games. The disrespect is unbelievable…but I digress. These days I catch glimpses of Eli coaching opposite his brother, Peyton, in flag football Pro Bowls or sitting in his basement breaking down Monday Night Football games. If it’s possible, I think I like Eli even more than I did when he was the quarterback I was rooting for every week.

I was first introduced to Arch Manning when he was still playing high school football and the football pundits were debating if he would be better than Eli, Peyton or Archie. (Like it’s even possible to know those things when someone is in high school…but I digress again). Admittedly so, my interest slightly peaked when he became a Texas Longhorn. Mostly because of the history the Texas program exudes in college football and then because simply, his last name is Manning. He became the most talked about third string quarterback that ever existed in short order.

The snapshot of his collegiate career is just that. He has had mild game action. His appearances in the games he played in, behind Quinn Ewers, were fleeting moments. And even though those moments were fleeting, they garnered another layer of buzz around Manning. The expectations for the upcoming college season are there. With all the excitement surrounding him and the pressure of living up to the Manning name, the question exists, if it all will culminate into a gigantic failure or just provide fuel for Manning to succeed?

The problem with expectations in sports is that they rarely live up to the desired expectations. There is a litany of quarterbacks who have been lauded collegiately and then drastically underwhelmed professionally. (I’m sure one automatically came to mind) If Peyton had never won a Super Bowl, the masses would never have put him in the conservation with Brady. If Eli had never avoided that sack and thrown that ball to David Tyree, would Eli be a Giants legend? We won’t get the answer to those questions and thankfully we don’t need them. If both hadn’t succeeded, the criticism would only have magnified.

Stepping into his first full season as the Texas quarterback, Arch is not only fighting the pressure of being a Manning, but he is also fighting the pressure of being the quarterback of the Texas Longhorns. One of the most storied programs in college football. A team that is always on national television. Always in the national conversation for the college football championship. A team, with high expectations, and a very zealous and expectant fan base. To be a Texas Longhorn fan, you were born into it. It defines you during the football season and most likely defines you in everyday life. For Arch to be the quarterback of that team…is the equivalent of being the quarterback of Georgia or Alabama. The microscope is so close that the tiniest fracture is visible. So not only is Arch fighting the Manning namesake; he is fighting the Texas one as well.

To be so young and confronted with this reality…could make numerous people squirm. These expectations can be most people’s nightmare. Yes, being a college football quarterback brings its own level of scrutiny but even more so, there is a deeper enemy. There is that thing that expectations bring. Fame. And fame has destroyed plenty of careers and plenty of people’s lives. Of course, being a Manning has its inherited level of fame, but all the Mannings have different levels of it. And every Manning had their own success. Would Mannings even be the royalty of football if they never had any long-term success on the football field? The simple answer is no. Winning just increases fame, and more fame increases the amount of people watching you. Will Arch be able to have that level of fame and not crumble?

Arch’s success on the football field started early. His high school career has its fair share of accolades and recognition. He was projected very highly before heading into college. He took the process seriously. His family held him away from media interviews and he did not take premature scholarship offers. His Instagram account was even private until after he signed his letter of intent with Texas. He had handled himself with a maturity that normally evades most high-profile college players. If that is because of the family he comes from or just simply, his own accountability, it is for you to decide. With that, if anyone could handle the Manning dynasty, it seems to be Arch.

When the college football season starts, the Texas Longhorns will have the preliminary buzz of any major powerhouse in college football. The fanbase will be excited to avenge the bitterness of the previous season’s college football playoff loss. And on the other hand, they will expect themselves to have a front row seat to the next Hall of Fame career of a Manning. When Arch steps on that grass for their first game against Ohio State, the air will change. The lights will be even brighter. The pulse of college football will be awaiting the future with held breath. Arch Manning is the next football superstar in the making. It would be extremely unlikely that he would fail and even with a few step backs, it would be even more unlikely that those would hinder him from having a successful season. It’s almost completely out of the question for him to underperform. That just doesn’t happen to Mannings.

Normally sports stars aren’t compared to presidents but something about the Arch Manning phenomenon feels seemingly close to John F. Kennedy. We all know the history of what the Kennedys were and the pressure it was to be from that family. The expectations were there before John was even sworn in as president. He had the choice. Take the criticism and the pressure that came with the Kennedy name and conform or take the risks that the country needed him to at the time. Of course, some of his presidency had missteps and we all know that it ended in tragedy but at the root, Kennedy took the namesake and historic ties from his family, and he took challenges head on. He didn’t buckle when he could’ve succumbed to that enemy called failure and disappointment. Arch Manning has that chance to not only carve out his own niche but to continue to add to the Manning family dynasty. Using all those expectations and coming out on the top is the ultimate way to meet something head on. Running from the spotlight does exactly what? If anything, it just increases the light around him.

Is this there where the Manning dynasty ends? Is it too much to ask for him to hold the torch of this family? Is he like Peyton? Is he like Eli? Should we just move on and write elongated articles about the foolishness of thinking that every Manning is birth right into success? The questions will undoubtedly loom. So why run from it?

When Peyton won his Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos, it was as if football fans exhaled a sigh of relief. Those who so desperately wanted him to win and be aligned somewhat slightly with Tom Brady, who always bested him, could not have felt anymore relieved. When Eli won the first Super Bowl against the undefeated Patriots, football fans changed their narrative surrounding him. No longer an underachiever, he became somewhat of a mythic figure. And when the Giants did it again, the entire narrative did 180. Say what you will about his wins and losses, interceptions to touchdown ratio; he had won two championships for a storied franchise. His future is in Canton, Ohio. (Like seriously, what are the voters even doing?!) The one thing that they had in common was with all the criticism they both faced, they took everything head on. They overcame and they came out on top. Neither ran from it and neither said they would have changed the path of their respective stories.

It’s unimaginable for most of us to know what it would be like to be born into a family with such high societal pressure. You’re scrutinized every moment. Your every sentence dissected and picked apart like Christmas ham. Every morning you would wake up and drink your morning coffee and as soon as you stepped out into the world, the air changed. A camera flash. A microphone drastically close to your face. None of us could ever actually imagine what that would be like.  And probably most of us would not want any part of that. Arch Manning, on the other hand, has never known any difference.

So why would he run from it now?