Arch Manning: Fame Feels 'A Little Absurd' — SkimNews
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- Arch Manning, 22, told Texas coach Steve Sarkisian's staff in August that fame feels 'a little absurd' and credited actor Matthew McConaughey for counsel including 'don't be surprised by anything' and 'there's no escaping it.'
- Cooper Manning said Arch told him at age 6 or 7: 'I want to play quarterback one day in college, but I don't have any interest in being famous' — and Cooper says he's attended only two of Arch's Texas practices, once being told 'You're coming to the scrimmage on Saturday. That's enough.'
- The Manning family tree includes Archie, Peyton, and Eli Manning combining for 47 seasons as NFL quarterbacks, a 'point-blank panorama on fame' Arch grew up watching from New Orleans.
- Archie Manning arrived at Ole Miss in 1967 when fame came slowly — he spent his first year on the freshman team washing varsity players' cars, running their laundry (including 'must have had 50' short-sleeved shirts from lineman Alan Bush), and wearing a beanie per custom, with varsity players shaving his head after wins.
- Arch Manning was deluged by reporters at the 2023-24 Sugar Bowl media day after throwing just five passes (completing two) the prior season, telling the paper the experience initially caused him 'a little bit of anxiety, like what the hell is going on.'
- Texas teammates describe Arch Manning as 'normal,' 'approachable,' 'outgoing,' and 'ordinary' — center Connor Robertson said 'if you met him kind of randomly, and had no idea about football, you wouldn't think he's the starting quarterback and comes from the family that he does.'
- Archie Manning was drafted second overall by the New Orleans Saints in January 1971, learning of the draft from Ole Miss PR man Billy Gates while still attending his 10 o'clock class.
Why it matters: The piece traces a 60-year inversion in the Manning family's relationship with fame: Archie Manning toiled anonymously on Ole Miss's freshman team in 1967, while Arch Manning has been on NFL draft lists 'roughly since birth' and faces a celebrity so intense that 20 strangers chased him after a communications class in his second week at Texas.
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