Eli Manning was once the little brother of the Manning NFL dynasty, but now it seems he’s the wise uncle.
During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Eli revealed the advice he is giving to his 16-year-old nephew, Arch Manning, who is currently in his second high school season at Isidore Newman High School in Louisiana, and said he “feels for” Arch because of all the attention he’s gotten.
“I told him, ‘Hey, enjoy being a high school football player,’” Eli said. “That is a great time in your life, some of the best friends you’ll have forever. Don’t start thinking so much about colleges, or ‘Hey where am I going to go play college,’ and thinking about the next level where you don’t get to enjoy this time in your life. So just enjoy it, work hard at it, be a great teammate and you’ll figure out where you’re gonna go play college.”
Arch is currently the No. 1 ranked pro-style quarterback in the class of 2023, according to 247Sports, but those are hardly the biggest expectations he’ll have in his career.
Arch, the son of Cooper Manning, is the nephew of Eli, who won two Super Bowl MVPs and broke every major franchise passing record for the New York Giants, and Peyton Manning, who just got inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August. So Arch’s long-term professional expectations are likely to be as high as they’ve ever been for a quarterback prospect by the time he makes it to the NFL.
And Eli is well aware of what type of pressure his nephew will be under, just as he was when he was drafted in 2004. Eli had to live up to the expectations set by Peyton, who had already been a league MVP, and had to do so in the nation’s leading media market, no less.
“He’s got so much pressure and so many expectations. People say, ‘Hey, I hear your nephew is going to be the best of all of y’all,’ and I’m like ‘Ohh, well that’s no pressure,’” Eli said. “Peyton went into the Hall of Fame this year, it’s not hard to become better than him.”
Eli said Arch has only just gotten into the advanced Xs and Os of playing quarterback in the past year, but that hasn’t stopped some of the biggest college football programs in the country from hosting the 16-year-old sensation on campus visits.
Arch sat in the student section at the University of Georgia for the Bulldogs’ 40-13 win over South Carolina on Saturday — where students had “WE WANT ARCH!” painted on their backs — and he’s scheduled to visit Alabama on Oct. 2 for the Crimson Tide’s home game against Mississippi. He’s also scheduled to visit the University of Texas, Ole Miss (where Eli played), and Clemson later this season.