Archie Manning is doing some clean-up after showing up in a viral video linking grandson Arch Manning to the Dallas Cowboys.
In a new interview, Manning tried to walk back the comments he made in the viral TikTok, in which he said he would love to see Arch play for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. The elder Manning said the comments got “out of hand,” and that he was just trying to be “nice to a patron” at his New Orleans sports bar.
“That is something that kind of got out of hand,” Manning said. “I have a sports bar in New Orleans and I was just being nice to a patron. I told him I hope Arch will 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 would go 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
In the original video, Manning offers up the Cowboys answer without any apparent prompting, which is at odds with his explanation here. It is certainly possible the TikTok was deceptively edited, but it sounds like Manning was just a bit too candid and did not think his remarks were going to end up as public fodder.
Arch is still just a redshirt freshman at Texas, so it will be a bit before he can really talk about the NFL. The early returns have been promising, as the Longhorns have some packages for him. He has also flashed promise as a passer, tallying 939 yards with 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He figures to be first in line to start for Texas next season if Quinn Ewers goes pro, as expected.
