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The hype surrounding the release of College Football 25 is very, very real, and while Arch Manning tried to act like he didn’t want to get caught up in the frenzy surrounding the video game, he’s inadvertently drummed up the attention he was supposedly attempting to avoid.
Last month, the folks at EA Sports dropped the first teaser trailer for College Football 25, the upcoming title that marks the resurrection of the beloved franchise that’s laid dormant for over a decade courtesy of the Supreme Court ruling that forced the publisher to pull the plug.
The reboot was made possible by the advent of the NIL Era, but there were some concerns about how many college football players would ultimately agree to have their name, image, and likeness used in the title.
We eventually learned EA Sports had offered the vast majority of student-athletes a $600 lump sum and a free copy of the game (although bigger names have been offered more lucrative deals)—an approach that has already led to more than 10,000 players opting in.
However, there’s one fairly notable name who isn’t a member of that group: Arch Manning, who is currently gearing up for what seems destined to be his second consecutive season as a backup quarterback for the Texas Longhorns.
Manning has understandably attracted a ton of attention due to his pedigree (for the uninitiated, his dad Cooper is brothers with Eli and Peyton Manning, and he’s named after his grandfather Archie), and he attracted some more thanks to the explanation he initially issued when he announced he was opting out, saying he’s “focused on playing football on the field.”
That left plenty of people fairly confused, as it arguably took more effort to announce he won’t be a part of College Football 25 than it would have to simply opt-in. He has largely strayed away from NIL deals since enrolling at Texas, and while it’s safe to assume his family is treading carefully when it comes to managing his dealings, it sure feels like they overthought this one.
That’s especially true due to the explanation that appeared in an article ESPN published on Tuesday, as the outlet spoke with a source who said Manning “wanted to wait until ‘he was the guy’ at Texas” before becoming a part of the College Football franchise.
At the end of the day, it’s hard to imagine there’s a single person who’s not going to buy College Football 25 because Arch Manning isn’t in it (just like it’s equally hard to imagine there’s anyone who was only going to buy it because he was included).
It’s pretty clear Manning is being overly protective of his Personal Brand, and while I think it would be a stretch to label him a diva over the matter, there’s no better way to convince people you fall in that category than being a backup QB who needlessly created a situation where you became the center of attention over an incredibly trivial matter in the grand scheme of things.