Hill: Arch Manning’s major blunder shines light on athlete interviews

Days after pulling off one of the biggest wins of his young career, Texas quarterback Arch Manning made a massive, unforgivable mistake.

He showed he is a human, a trait that isn’t acceptable for those in the spotlight.

Manning helped engineer a dramatic comeback victory over Ohio State last week in the biggest game of the college football season thus far.

His coach, Steve Sarkisian, blew off his postgame interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, which allegedly was delayed by technical difficulties, because it was keeping him from joining his team in celebration.

The moment led to a deluge of memes and GIFs online, including over-the-top AI slapstick videos of Sarkisian slapping Rowe and flexing as he ran away and Rowe knocking out Sarkisian with one punch and standing over him with the microphone.

They were obviously fake and silly and just two of the hundreds of takes on the incident that were floating around.

They also weren’t funny, but that’s in the eye of the beholder.

Anyway, this is where Manning comes back into the story.

During his weekly news conference, Manning was asked if he had been seeing the social media activity that the incident had spawned.

He said that he had and that he found the video of Sarkisian slapping Rowe to be humorous.

“Have you all seen that one?” he chuckled. “That’s a good one.”

The reporters in the room appeared to laugh, but the backlash on social media was immediate.

Manning was accused of endorsing violence against women, which was not his intent.

Here’s the time when disclosure is warranted. This column often is attacked for “wokeness” and political correctness, and that’s not unfair. So maybe we are part of the problem.

But I admit that my first viewing of the AI video had my mind focused on attacks on the media and not women specifically or even in general. Again, it was obviously fake, so the reality and gravity of the real-life implications didn’t hit. It seemed more Three Stooges than violence against a woman, which is a problem in our society that shouldn’t be mocked or exploited for entertainment.

Once the backlash against Manning started, it started to make sense. There was a deeper meaning, and it’s not something that should be applauded. But it took a minute for my mind to get there. Manning is focused on school and football and being famous. It’s possible it also took time for him to process the societal implications.

His apology was swift and appeared sincere.

“In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video. There is nothing funny about it,” he wrote on social media. “It’s easy to say I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I do not take that lightly and am deeply sorry for that. I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she has personally had to deal with because of my comments. I have a ton of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace in this moment. I need to do better and will be more thoughtful going forward.”

Fair and appropriate. An apology was justified and warranted, even if he didn’t understand what he was saying when he said it.

Sarkisian also apologized, and Rowe publicly accepted their words. But it wasn’t enough for some people who are coming for the 22-year-old quarterback for his perceived insensitivity.

Maybe this is why some athletes are timid about expressing themselves when microphones and cameras are around.

Manning had a human moment that probably will follow him around. He laughed at a video he found funny before considering the implications.

So why would any athlete willingly share his or her personality with the public? We want athletes to be real people and yet want to drag them down when they act like them.

It will be hard to blame the next athlete who wants to act robotic in a news conference.