Before nailing it under the Texas center as a first-year starter in August, Arch Manning nailed it behind the field. Texas has been amping up to welcome their very obvious yet most hyped up crown jewel as the full-blown leader of the offense in a brand new season, but the blueblood kid made sure his NIL opportunities are racked up at this golden chance. Early on Tuesday, the Texas guy inked another massive NIL deal with none other than the sole dominator in the global ride-hailing and taxi market, Uber, to promote their newly launched self-driving initiative called Waymo.

The QB appeared in a promotional video with his dad, Cooper Manning, and grandfather, Archie Manning, in a Waymo, a driverless autonomous ride-sharing vehicle recently launched in Austin. The three generations of the Mannings engaged in a captivating conversation about the use of technologies in their respective eras.

Archie, the elder Manning, tackles some queries about his use of computers and cell phones growing up in a classic era, while Cooper pocks Arch about some parking tickets. ”Arch, do you Uber to class?” Cooper asked his son, who was sitting in the backseat of a Waymo. “Because I notice you get a lot of parking tickets. You must be driving somewhere.”

With a teenager’s quirks, Arch responds: “Tickets are brutal around campus, so I think Uber is the way to go.” Archie then interrupts the pun by pointing out the self-driving taxi “drives a lot better than Arch did last night coming from the airport. That was the worst.” Arch could do nothing but meekly agree with the old man: “I missed like three turns.”

The commercial basically revolves around the creative idea of representing the general lack of understanding of the modern technology of the older generation and how it’s our responsibility to make them aware of the positive, smarter changes that the world is constantly undergoing.

While we don’t know about the exact NIL term with Uber, Manning currently boasts a $6.5 million NIL Valuation, according to the On3 NIL Valuation, which placed him first in the NIL 100 with the highest NIL Valuation of any college or high school athlete of all sports.

However, despite accompanying his son in his new endeavor, Cooper Manning seems to be highly cautious of Arch’s highly hyped up Texas future.

Cooper Manning doesn’t see the unprecedented Arch Manning hype in a good light

It’s Arch Manning’s time in Austin, given that Quinn Ewers moved on to the NFL. But his dad, Cooper, took all the good words and praise with a pinch of salt. As a veteran in the business, he knows how the media propaganda works and how it can destroy someone’s reputation and future in an early blooming phase.

In an interview on “The Dan Patrick Show,” the eldest of the Manning brothers came clean on his realistic hope for Arch in 2025 and why he’s glad his son waited behind the frontline for over two years in Texas. “I think having your children struggle with some things is good. Yeah, it’s frustrating not to play. Did he love it? No. Was it probably good for him in the long run? Yes,” Manning said.

Even if you find his stance a bit odd, from a father’s standpoint, he wants the best for his son and wants to make sure that he gets the perfect ambience and room to grow in his career, not deviating amidst a lot of unnecessary attention that can turn into criticism in a blink.

“I mean, you know how they do it in the media, they crown you way too early and then they jump on and kill ya,” Cooper explained. “So he’s getting way too much attention and way too much credit and he’s going to struggle, and they’re going to say ‘He’s not as good, he’s overrated.

Cooper’s fear isn’t elusive. The narrative suggesting Arch Manning is overrated in Texas has already been a recurring theme for some time, given he doesn’t get as elite a depth chart and a favorable schedule as Ewers. The fact that he is yet to prove his worth under the center made the case even more dicey. However, it will be fun to see how the youngest Manning pans out in his first year at the starting gig, living up to his forefather’s legacy.