Story by Maxine Messineo
Staff Writer
Illustration by Helena Millar
Staff Illustrator
Quarterback for the Texas Longhorns Arch Manning has recently faced backlash and criticism for publicly laughing during a press conference at an AI-generated video. The video depicts the University of Texas’ head football coach Steve Sarkisian slapping Holly Rowe, a sideline sports telecaster for ESPN and ABC, and knocking her to the ground. This clip has shone light on the sports world’s relationship with toxic masculinity, systemic misogyny and homophobia, and how violence against women is often taken lightly.
22-year-old Arch Manning is from New Orleans, Louisiana, and is the grandson of Archie Manning and the nephew of Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. All three are former quarterbacks for the National Football League (NFL), with Archie Manning playing for the New Orleans Saints, Peyton Manning playing for the Denver Broncos, and Eli Manning playing for the New York Giants.
Arch Manning went to Isidore Newman School for high school in New Orleans where he was the varsity starter quarterback in freshman year, and was the first freshman quarterback to start in Newman’s season opener in at least 40 years. To avoid attention, Arch Manning’s family declined premature college scholarships while he was still in high school, but he eventually committed to the University of Texas on June 23, 2022.
On Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, Arch Manning was in a post game news conference after a comeback game against Ohio State and was asked if he had seen any social media clips recently by a reporter. Arch Manning answered with the question of whether or not the reporters at the conference had seen the AI-generated clip of Sarkisian and Rowe.
“Have y’all seen that one? That’s a good one. Of him slapping Holly Rowe? Yeah, it’s hilarious,” Arch Manning said, while laughing along with the other reporters at the conference. After the backlash, Arch Manning apologized the next day, on Tuesday, Sept. 15 on his Instagram story.
“I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she has personally had to deal with because of my comments. I have a lot of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace at this moment,” Arch Manning wrote.
Rowe later said she had spoken directly to Arch Manning and accepted his apology.
“We move forward with respect and kindness for one another,” Rowe said.
Rowe is a telecasting veteran for ESPN and ABC and made history on October 22, 2021 when she was Utah Jazz’s first female commentator in a game against the Sacramento Kings. She has been with ESPN for over 30 years, and has worked women’s college basketball, women’s college volleyball, and Women’s World Cup matches doing play-by-plays.
The AI-generated video that Arch Manning mentioned was inspired by an awkward post game interview between Sarkisian and Rowe, where Sarkisian abruptly left the interview after loudly cheering for the Longhorns before Rowe could ask any further questions.
Sarkisian was previously the head football coach at the University of Washington from 2009 to 2013 and the University of Southern California from 2014 to 2015 before coming to the University of Texas.
This incident has highlighted how toxic masculinity, such as “locker room talk,” and systemic misogyny and homophobia have been interlinked with the world of sports. “Locker room talk” is a term to describe crude, sexually explicit, or misogynistic conversations that men engage in when they are in private, single-sex spaces, such as locker rooms.
This term is often criticized, however, for watering down the abusive and objectifying language that is used to harmless private banter rather than harmful speech. This behavior is often more of a performance of toxic masculinity due to the desire for peer approval, normalizing misogyny and a culture that does not take violence against women seriously.
While sports teach people of all genders about focus, grit, and teamwork, the culture of sports has often drilled into boys’ mindsets that vulnerability must be suppressed, while aggression and dominance should be harnessed.
Boys are often taught that winning is everything, and that to be bad at the sport or to lose is akin to being like a girl or gay. Don’t throw or hit like a girl, don’t run like a girl, and be called “gay” at any sign of failure. These experiences teach male athletes unhealthy lessons from an early age, leading to a rampant culture of toxic masculinity and sexism within sports.
In the situation of Arch Manning laughing at an AI-generated video of a female reporter being slapped to the ground, it is likely that he only brought up the clip due to him being in a room full of male reporters. He might have been desiring peer approval by performing toxic masculinity through laughing at the video along with the men in the room.
In this case, the video is AI-altered and no one was actually physically injured, but there are videos of violence against real women who are seriously injured by partners, family, or strangers that circulate on the internet. While this particular video wasn’t real, and Arch Manning didn’t laugh at a real video depicting violence against a woman, there are men who do find real videos of women being harmed entertaining and “hilarious.” This behavior from Arch Manning is one case of the systemic issue of violence against women not being taken seriously.
Furthermore, Rowe and Sarkisian are real people, and while they are public figures whose images are legally allowed to be turned into an AI-generated clip depending on the video’s purpose, no one’s image and identity should be used in a clip to depict violence against another person without their knowledge or consent.
Real or not, Arch Manning’s public reaction to the AI-altered clip has pulled back the curtain on issues of misogyny within the world of sports. However, Arch Manning is only in college. He is still finding his own identity and still faces the pressure of conforming with his peers as a college student. Arch Manning’s thoughts on the video highlighted the systemic issues of violence against women not being taken seriously and the pressure of toxic masculinity rather than a personal issue on Arch Manning’s part.