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Hardo Alert: Arch Manning Doesn't Want To Be In EA Sports College Football Until He's 'The Guy' at Texas

ESPN — More than 10,000 college football players have already opted in for EA Sports College Football 25, which will launch this summer, but fans will have to wait at least another year for Texas quarterback Arch Manning to lead their teams on the new video game.

Manning, a sophomore backup for the Longhorns and the nephew of former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli, is among the players who have opted out of being included in the video game, a source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

Manning, who attempted only five passes in one game as Quinn Ewers' backup in 2023, wanted to wait until "he was the guy" at Texas, the source said.

I can't stress enough what a massive miscalculation this is on the part of Arch Manning and presumably the rest of his family. Go search Arch's name on Twitter right now and see what the prevailing public sentiment about him is after this stunt.

This whole thing just doesn't make any sense. You want to wait until you're "the guy," so you're going to cause this completely unnecessary distraction for your team and tank your image among casual fans before you've ever started a game in college? Just take the $600 and enjoy being a playable character in a video game people love and have waited more than a decade for.

And while waiting until you're "the guy" is obviously an extreme hardo move, does it not come off as a little asshole-ish, too? Manning is making himself a national story over a video game because he reportedly refuses to be in it until it's all about him. I'm not sure how I would feel about that as a teammate.

The good news is nobody who loves this video game cares about the Texas backup quarterback. We'd have more of a problem if the starter at Old Dominion or UAB opted out, as that would screw with the authenticity of the first couple years of a Franchise mode. Luckily, though, it seems like pretty much everyone except Arch is on board.