Arch Manning has a bright career ahead of him as a quarterback at the University of Texas and when he ultimately enters the NFL Draft. He got a much-needed lesson in the weight of his words this week, in the wake of the Longhorns’ victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes.
In case you somehow aren’t aware, Manning stepped foot into his first controversy as a major sports star when he laughed at a press conference about an AI video of coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe. Sarkisian had snubbed Rowe in the postgame interview after being frustrated when technical difficulties kept him waiting at halftime.
In spite of some voices somehow trying to normalize the situation, Manning stepped up the next day and apologized.
On First Take, host Shae Cornette addressed the situation, saying she hoped it was an opportunity for Manning to learn and better himself.
“I do hope this was a strong learning lesson for him. You don’t need to be laughing about a video that promotes violence, especially towards women” – Shae Cornette on Arch Manning pic.twitter.com/twwxVWZy9H
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 16, 2026
“When I first had heard Arch’s comments and watched that press conference, my initial reaction was ‘my goodness, how insensitive, how immature and quite frankly, how dare he say that, especially about Holly and the way he was laughing about it.’ As the day progressed, I thought to myself, ‘ok, when you have this last name and you play at this university and you wear that on your sleeve every day you have to know better,” Cornette said.
“Maybe that’s unfair given his age and immaturity level still and what he’s going through at his age. But that is just the reality of the situation that comes with it. He’s apologized. He had a conversation with Holly Rowe, which I love. Now I wish his apology was vocal, was on video, as opposed to in text. Nonetheless, now we move forward. But what I do hope is obviously this is a very strong learning lesson for him. You don’t necessarily need to be laughing about a video that provokes violence, especially towards women. And so Arch will hopefully do better.”
It was definitely a good idea for First Take and ESPN for Shae Cornette to take the lead on this situation and give her opinion instead of deferring to Stephen A. Smith. Her comments were sensible and meaningful. To those who are trying to dismiss the issue, it’s important to hear from voices like Cornette to show why the story matters and not just what Arch Manning, but everyone, can learn from it.
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