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Will Arch Manning Be a Sports Video Game Legend? Here are the GOATs.

by:RT Young•05/30/25
Arch Manning
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Texas Longhorn fans got their first look at Arch Manning and Steve Sarkisian in NCAA Football 26 when EA Sports dropped the trailer for the game this week. The road to Arch feels like a long time coming for Texas fans, and the anticipation is palpable.

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One way fans will be eager to act on their hype for Manning is to play with him in the legendary video game, which is now in its second year back after a long hiatus. We’ll have to wait and see what the developers think of Manning’s skill set and how he’s rated, but it’s safe to say he has the chance to be the best Longhorn in a video game ever.

Vince Young on the speed option was nice, and #34 (aka Ricky Williams) was a tank in the old NCAA games. But does Arch have a chance to crack the list of Sports Video Game GOATs?

Here are mine.

What are yours?

Pablo Sanchez (Backyard Baseball ’97)

ADIOS BEISBOL! Sanchez “no hable ingles” and might not have even been four feet tall, but the cult hero was a five-tool menace on the diamond. Millennials who grew up with desktop computer games will remember the pot-bellied assassin’s skill in the iconic game from the 1990s. What’s funny is my son is a baseball-obsessed nut right now, and though we had never done video games or iPads before, we caved and got him the re-released version of this game for iPhone. Have I stayed up a few times to launch bombs into orbit at Tincan Alley with Pablo? Si.

Michael Vick (Madden 2004)

My friends and I had a rule: you couldn’t play with the Falcons. Vick was so unstoppable that all you had to do was drop back, tuck the ball, and take off – the defense was in hell. Oh, and he could also launch bombs. He was the cover athlete for good reason. Does Arch Manning have a chance to be the 2020s version of video game Mike?

“Jon Dowd” aka White Barry Bonds (MVP Baseball 2005)

The fact that the biggest and baddest player in baseball didn’t agree to be licensed was a problem for Major League Baseball. So they created a workaround with the fictional Dowd. He was left-handed and was massive and a home-run-dropping behemoth who could do everything Bonds could. He even had a giant head.

The Classics

Mike Tyson (Punch-Out!!) & Bo Jackson (Tecmo Bowl)

Tyson is the most undefeatable “big boss” in video game history. If you even made it to Iron Mike, you were getting knocked out. But one of the reasons Bo Jackson is so beloved—beyond his two-sport stardom—is that he was gaming’s first unstoppable force. These two legends helped put sports video games on the map.

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IYKYK.

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