Paul Finebaum defends Arch Manning amid media criticism
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
Coming off his controversial comments towards reporter Holly Rowe, Texas quarterback Arch Manning has significantly dialed back his responses during press conferences.
In his last public appearance on Tuesday, Manning mustered up just 56 seconds of total answers for the 19 questions he was asked. That has the college football world bemoaning the PR shift in the wake of Manning being maligned for joking about an AI video of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian slapping Rowe.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is redirecting the blame on the media instead of the 22-year-old quarterback.
“They all laughed and he took all the heat…Don’t criticize the subject if you ask stupid and bogus questions, which I heard on most of those,” Finebaum said. “If you ask Arch Manning a pertinent question, maybe he will answer them. If you don’t sit there like a bunch of fanboys drooling over his sweat, then maybe he’ll give something back in return.”
Finebaum also points out that stars like Manning aren’t dependent on the media anymore, so it’s even more necessary to build rapport by valuing their ime.
“Things have changed. Guys like Arch Manning do not need the local yokels in the media,” Finebaum said. “He can reach millions of people with 1 Instagram post. He can reach millions of people by doing something more than sitting there and listening to a bunch of dumb questions from the local media who look like a pack of wolves trying to get some meat at feeding.”
Next up for Manning and No. 1 Texas is a road matchup at No. 14 Tennessee in their SEC opener. Kickoff is set for noon ET (ABC).
