I get Arch Manning’s approach. It’s all ball, all the time.

He doesn’t follow anyone on Twitter/X. His bio on that platform reads “college student,” and he doesn’t have a cover photo. His lone NIL deal is through Panini Trading Cards with all the proceeds going to St. David’s Healthcare and St. David’s Foundation, as well as Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas. He has 8 total posts on Instagram, half of which are related to that NIL deal and his commitment/signing with Texas.

That’s fine. Manning can opt into as little social media as he wants. He’s probably better for it, especially as someone who doesn’t come from a family needing him to be their golden ticket. All ball, all the time.

But not opting into the EA Sports College Football 25? That’s a different story.

That’s the latest “all ball, all the time” decision reportedly coming from the Texas quarterback:

Weird? A bit. One can opt into being a video game while still being “focused on playing.” Hundreds of thousands of athletes have done that since sports video games became a thing, including his famous uncles who also came into college with 5-star billing. Allowing EA Sports to use one’s likeness shouldn’t impact Manning’s ability to live up to some insane levels of hype. If he ultimately doesn’t do that, no human being with any ounce of credibility will point to Manning’s likeness in a video game as the cause of his downfall.

Again, EA Sports already has more than 10,000 college football players that are on board. If a right guard from Akron has a rough year, it won’t be because he decided to accept $600 and a video game in return for his likeness being used.

Of course, Manning isn’t a right guard from Akron. He’s the next expected star in the most famous football family on the planet.

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Manning’s fame, even before he makes a college start, is closer to Michael Jordan than a right guard from Akron. Jordan famously opted out of the NBA Players Union in the ’90s and didn’t appear in various NBA video games throughout the decade when he was the biggest star on the planet. Do I think Jordan regretted not being in NBA Jam? Probably not because he had everything and more that a human being could ever ask for.

Jordan’s reasoning for not being part of the NBAPA was because he wanted total control of his likeness. This also happened when Jordan was again, the biggest star on the planet both in on-court business (winning NBA championships, The Dream Team, etc.) and off-court business (Air Jordan, Gatorade, etc.).

Unlike Jordan and his uncles, who didn’t have to navigate NIL in college, Manning has turned down off-field business perhaps in large part because he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to handle on-field business yet. “All ball, all the time” feels quite literal for the Manning camp. I say “camp” because as Horns 247sports Texas insider Jeff Howe said, “I’d be surprised if (the video game) was even put in front of him.”

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It’s as if opting into having his likeness used in a video game is a sign that Manning could possibly spend a single minute of his life that isn’t devoted to becoming a better player.

But answer me this. Doesn’t this actually separate Manning even more? Like, the guy ahead of him on the depth chart, Quinn Ewers, is one of the thousands of guys who are in this game. This game’s summer release will halt productivity across America like March Madness. It will be an important cultural moment in the sport after going a decade without an officially licensed college football video game that’ll include essentially all of his teammates and buddies he met from the recruiting circuit.

Manning won’t be part of that. And why? It’s not because of money. It’s because of image. That’s a strange thing to say about an 18-year-old kid who hasn’t started a college game yet.

One of the positives of this era is that an 18-year-old can be empowered to make a decision like that. If Manning isn’t a fan of video games or his camp is just in “decline everything not associated with Texas” mode, he’s inclined to do so.

Still, though. “Brand control,” whatever you interpret that to be, can go a bit too far. Go ask Russell Wilson about that. You can isolate yourself. Manning not opting into a video game differs from an NFL quarterback demanding a separate office above the locker room. But at some point, driving home the “all ball, all the time,” brand in itself can do more harm than good.

With Maalik Murphy off to Duke, there’s now an expectation that 2024 will be Ewers’ last college season before moving on to the NFL and ultimately passing the torch to Manning. Nothing from his rather uneventful college start suggests that he’ll struggle to handle the burning flame of being QB1 in Austin with that last time.

Turning this opportunity down — one that no shortage of college football legends from the last decade have spoken about missing out on — is the most noteworthy thing Manning has done as a college player.

Consider it his first misstep.

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