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Texas Freshman Arch Manning and Family Clear Up "BS" NIL Rumors

Ahead of Sugar Bowl, Longhorns' backup quarterback speaks to media for the first time

Michael Ehrlich

Texas Freshman Arch Manning and Family Clear Up "BS" NIL Rumors
Texas Freshman Arch Manning and Family Clear Up "BS" NIL Rumors /
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Coming to Texas with a famous surname, massive NIL earning potential and as one of the highest touted recruits in recent memory, quarterback Arch Manning had a lot riding on his shoulders. 

With NFL greats Archie as a grandfather and Peyton and Eli as uncles, the lineage for Arch is strong, but like most freshman, he had to wait his turn. As third-string signal caller behind starter Quinn Ewers and now-transferred backup Maalik Murphy, Manning is now preparing for the College Football Playoff in case his number is called.

Ahead of Monday's Sugar Bowl against No. 2-ranked and undefeated Washington, Manning spoke to the media for the first time this season and had a scrum around him dwarfing that of starter Ewers.

With reports throughout the season of potential transfers for all three Longhorn quarterbacks and outrageous NIL valuations for Manning in particular, the freshman was able to clear up a few things on Saturday.

First, Manning confirmed that he is not transferring - as of now - even if NFL Draft-eligible Ewers returns to Austin.

“Obviously there’s always rumors, especially nowadays,” Manning said in his nearly hour-long media session. “I haven’t looked into transferring at all. I’m just focused on developing and helping this team any way I can and hopefully one day playing for the University of Texas like I’ve always wanted to.”

In addition to speaking about on-field matters, Manning answered questions regarding NIL in general and rumors of million dollar paydays. The recent headline making the rounds on social media is that Manning is making more money than NFL MVP candidate Brock Purdy of the 49ers, who as the last pick in the 2022 Draft has a base salary of $870,000.

"I'm not involved with my NIL," Manning said. "You would have to ask my dad about that. I have no idea. I don't think I'm making however much more than Brock Purdy. Someone sent me that the other day."

Thankfully, a media member did in fact ask Manning's dad. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger spoke to Cooper Manning about all things Texas football, Arch's future and NIL rumors.

Cooper confirmed that Arch's only NIL deal so far has been an exclusive trading card partnership with Panini America, that included a charitable auction that raised over $100,000 for St. David's HealthCare and St. David's Foundation.

Regarding the NIL valuation rumors, Cooper debunked the outrageous numbers shared across the industry.

“All this NIL stuff is BS. People just make up numbers,” Cooper shared with Dellenger. “Don’t believe what you read.”

Regardless of what Manning has made thus far in NIL, he and the Longhorns face Washington in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day at 8:45PM ET on ESPN.

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Michael Ehrlich
MICHAEL EHRLICH

Michael Ehrlich is a seasoned sports marketing executive with experience across the global sports brand, athlete representation, media and education sides of the business. The Founder and CEO of Playbook Marketing, Ehrlich consults with brands on all things NIL and athlete partnerships, advises student-athletes on their personal brand building endeavors and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California where he teaches a course on athlete communications and marketing. As a writer, his previous bylines include Boardroom, Business of College Sports, DIME Magazine and UPROXX, among others. You can follow him across social media at @MichaelEhrlich and reach out via michael@playbook-marketing.com

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