Arch Manning is just one of the guys
Arch Manning has a number of unique qualities about him. Sure, there’s the athletic talent he possesses at his listed 6-foot-4, 216 pounds. There are the gorgeous deep passes from his right arm. And in the era of NIL, there’s the camera presence paired with Manning features that millions of football fans have become familiar with as the game has become the nation’s most popular sport.
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There’s another aspect that’s underreported, though not unreported. In recent weeks, though, the trait Manning has that most rarely get to see has gone viral.
He’s just a regular guy.
Steve Sarkisian has maintained that Manning is about as normal of a college student as a five-star quarterback can be. Remember when he lost his student ID during his first few weeks on campus? Sarkisian said similar during his appearance on 3rd and Longhorn, and slipped in a comment that drew laughter from the hosts.
“I think everybody’s joking with him now that he’s got some street cred,” Sarkisian said.
The reference? Manning traveled with Ryan Wingo to St. Louis in the past few weeks along with Colin Simmons, DeAndre Moore, and Nick Brooks to help Wingo with his Skills and Drills camp. Around the same time, pictures of Manning wearing Vuori gear and all in Wingo’s old neighborhood made their way to the web.
(One of the pictures from Manning’s post above is from that trip)
Sarkisian had warned him he was going to be a popular figure in St. Louis during Wingo’s camp.
“I was telling him about the home visit I did at Ryan Wingo’s house,” Sarkisian said. “Ryan has got an awesome family. The families tell us a lot. We went into this home visit, and the whole neighborhood was in Wingo’s house.”
Sark continued: “You’re going to Wingo’s? I said get ready, the whole neighborhood is coming out. He texted me there and said ‘you weren’t kidding, man. This family runs deep.'”
Attendees at the Posse East after 2024’s spring game can attest.
Manning’s viral appearance in what’s thought to be a rougher part of St. Louis drew plenty of jokes and wisecracks online, as the “Arch Manning in the trenches” captions indicates. But for the Longhorn football program and its fans, it does reveal that Manning is a player who has the respect of his teammates for being relatable, reliable, and a leader. He’s someone who has a certain type of appeal that helps a local football camp turn successful, but he also chose to go there to teach and to make himself available for his pal Wingo.
Football is a tremendous bond-builder. Every football field that members of the 2025 Longhorns played on were 120 yards in length and had two goal posts. The rules were the same for everyone. And everyone performed at a level that attracted the attention of Texas’ coaches.
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Whether you’re from Greer Ave. in St. Louis or went to the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans where your uncles’ numbers are retired, football demands a type of character on and off the field. Manning has shown he has the type of character that his teammates, and certainly plenty others, gravitate toward.
That aspect has always been something Sarkisian tried to hammer home when speaking publicly about Manning, similar to how he would say Bijan Robinson is a better person than football player. Manning’s own public speaking illustrates how regular he is. When he was on with ESPN’s Marty Smith in January, he was more “football playing college student” than “Manning.”
“I haven’t done anything,” Manning said, echoing a similar sentiment multiple times in the interview. “I’ve started two football games. There’s a lot more guys that have done a lot more than me. But I’m trying to get there.”
His April availability was more of the same. Team first, humble, no nonsense.
When he’s running for another touchdown or finding Wingo in the end zone in 2025, it’ll be hard to think about Manning as a regular guy.
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But make no mistake, he puts his Vuori Cascade Tech Chino Pant Athletic Slim Fits on one leg at a time like everyone else. And his ability to just be one of the guys is an endearing quality that has played out publicly and will boost Texas behind closed doors ahead of the 2025 season.
