Archie Manning Clarifies Viral Comment About Wanting Arch Manning to Play for Cowboys

He hopes to see his grandson play college football for three years before declaring for the NFL Draft.

Former NFL player Archie Manning attends the 2020 Sugar Bowl. / Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Archie Manning recently went viral for answering a fan's question about where he thinks his grandson, Texas quarterback Arch Manning, would land in the NFL. His answer: the Dallas Cowboys.

This answer definitely surprised football fans since the Manning family has no direct ties to the Cowboys. Peyton played for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos and Eli played for the New York Giants. Archie himself spent most of his career with the New Orleans Saints.

The patriarch of the family clarified his comments in the viral video when speaking to Sports Illustrated, saying the video clip "got out of hand."

"That is something that kind of got out of hand," Manning said. "I was just being nice to a patron. I told him I hoped Arch would play three years of college football, and he said 'And then maybe to the Cowboys?' I said 'That'd be fine with me.' I didn't know he was going to put that on TikTok or whatever, I don't know what TikTok is. I didn't know it was going viral, as they say."

Archie Manning says his comments about wanting Arch to play for the Cowboys got "out of hand" pic.twitter.com/qiuu5CMbOF

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 11, 2024

If the young Manning does play three years of college ball, and it's leaning that way, then fans won't see him be drafted to the NFL until 2026. There's time for him to make more of a mark in college football and for him to draw interest from NFL teams.

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