“The big thing was just to start with a completion… have plays you like, and not rush too much.” That was the advice Arch Manning brought with him from his uncle Peyton into his first big-time spring game at Texas. Slow down. Remain in rhythm. Have faith in your training. The latest Manning prodigy learning quarterback gospel from a two-time Super Bowl winner and Hall of Fame-bound uncle. If legacy came in the form of statistics, Arch would’ve already have the Heisman. By the time he signed with Texas in 2023, it was more of a coronation. A five-star scion of quarterbacking royalty, strolling into Austin to restore burnt-orange glory. National telecasts hustled to capture angles of his initial spring tosses. And yet, halfway through year two, something’s different.
As he spoke with Pat Dooley, Steve Spurrier—never one to sugarcoat a take—voiced what many were starting to wonder. “Most people project Texas to win the SEC,” he said. “They’ve already got Arch Manning winning the Heisman too.” And then: “My question is: If he was this good, how come they let Quinn Ewers play so much last year? And he was a 7th round pick.” Spurrier’s skepticism wasn’t cruel, just sharp enough to cut through the hype. His comments didn’t question Arch’s talent but highlighted a gap between projection and production, reminding everyone that in college football, legacy might open the door, but Saturdays decide who stays in the room.
Reggie Wayne, six-time Pro Bowler and longtime teammate of Peyton Manning, added a louder voice to the growing chorus of realism. Scrolling through social media flooded with Arch praise, Wayne didn’t rant. He simply dropped names—and perspective. “They just be talking…,” he typed, before listing Cam Newton, Joe Burrow, Johnny Manziel, Lamar Jackson, and Baker Mayfield, five quarterbacks who, in Wayne’s opinion, had already appropriated the “best college QB since Tim Tebow” label with on-field deeds. Wayne wasn’t burying Arch’s star. He was demanding hype pay respect to the record book.
They just be talking…. “Best College Qb since Tim Tebow.”
Cam Newton
Joe Burrow
Johnny Manziel
Lamar Jackson
Baker Mayfield
Just saying these dudes was some bad dudes in college after Tim Tebow. I’ll let you decide if their better or not. And plenty other Heisman dudes https://t.co/E6QGcH8SMj
— Reggie Wayne (@ReggieWayne_17) July 1, 2025
He wasn’t mocking Arch Manning’s talent. He was reminding everyone that the path to legend is paved with receipts. And right now, Arch’s résumé is still in draft form.
It forced fans and analysts to run two highlight reels side by side: one with Cam Newton willing Auburn to a national title, Burrow throwing 60 touchdowns in a season, Lamar Jackson slicing defenses with poetry and speed, Manziel rewriting the rules in College Station, and Baker planting a flag in the Horseshoe. The other? A reel still forming—redshirt games, spring flashes, and a last name carrying more weight than the stat sheet.
Wayne’s subtle critique struck a nerve because it didn’t aim at Arch—it targeted the machinery around him. The hot-take cycle, the coronations before kickoff. His message? Let the kid earn it.
Pushing back on Mayfield & Co’s erasure
Wayne’s tweet wasn’t just a nudge at the media—it was a defense of the quarterbacks who’d already lived through the fire. Baker Mayfield, so often reduced to a meme or a cautionary tale in the NFL until his resurgence in Tampa Bay, was an Oklahoma walk-on who racked up 131 touchdown passes, nearly 70% completions, and a Heisman. That résumé doesn’t disappear just because the NFL chapter got bumpy.
The same goes for the rest of Wayne’s list. Cam Newton’s 2010 campaign remains among the most jaw-dropping solo runs in college football history. Joe Burrow’s 2020 passing stats read like fiction—60 touchdowns, a 202.0 passer rating, eight top-ten opponents defeated. Lamar Jackson forced defensive coordinators to rewrite entire game plans. Manziel danced across screens with improvisational brilliance that made every down must-watch.
For pundits to leap from Tebow straight to Arch, skipping over this group, is more than lazy—it’s historical malpractice. And Wayne wasn’t going to let that slide.
Credits: USA Today
Wayne’s tweet didn’t diminish Arch Manning’s potential—it tried to protect it. The freshman hasn’t failed. He simply hasn’t arrived yet. That’s what makes the hype dangerous. When potential is projected as destiny, it creates a bar so high that even greatness can feel like failure.
And make no mistake: Wayne knows greatness. He’s caught passes from Peyton and watched two No. 1 picks climb the mountain. His warning wasn’t laced with bitterness. It came from someone who’s seen too many young stars crushed by the gravity of exaggerated expectation. The real misstep isn’t in celebrating Arch. It’s in doing so at the expense of those who’ve already built the blueprint.
Ultimately, Reggie Wayne wasn’t clapping back at Arch Manning. He was clapping back at erasure. At the way college football sometimes forgets yesterday’s heroes while scripting tomorrow’s headlines. The hype train will keep chugging. That’s what college football does. But thanks to Wayne, it now carries a new caboose—Perspective.
Arch Manning may still rise to join the ranks of Newton, Burrow, Manziel, Jackson, and Mayfield. The path is still open. But until he does, let the record show: before Arch even takes a meaningful snap, five legends already carved up Saturdays. And their stories deserve to ride beside his, not behind.
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