Arch Manning hopefully learned a valuable lesson. Violence against women is never funny, even if it's depicted in an AI-generated video. His laughter, the laughter of every person in that interview room,
and the reporter's tweet describing Manning's response as "gold" (which he since apologized for ) trivializes such violence, intentional or not, and potentially sends a message to victims that nobody cares.
For that mistake, Manning apologized, saying, "I need to do better and will be more thoughtful going forward." It seemed sincere. ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, who the fictional video showed being slapped by Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, accepted the apology. Manning is only 22. There's room for grace to allow a young man to make a childish mistake and grow up.
— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) September 15, 2026
But what's Sarkisian's excuse?
Let's not forget, this whole situation could have been avoided if Sarkisian had simply performed his obligated duties as head coach and gave Rowe an interview after Texas' win over Ohio State. Instead, Sark cut off Rowe's question with a "hook 'em" and ran off, spurring her look of annoyance and a wave AI edits on social media. That's how we got to this place where Manning and others could come across (and laugh at) a video of Sark slapping Rowe.
SHAME ON YOU: Former ESPN anchor defends Holly Rowe
No, Sarkisian didn't create the video. He can't help what the internet does with that moment. But he could have created a better moment instead of acting like an unprofessional jerk with the maturity level you might expect from Manning. We can't hold a 22-year-old accountable for his behavior and let the 52-year-old duck accountability.
ESPN technical difficulties prevented Sarkisian from doing his halftime interview with Laura Rutledge. A Texas spokesperson said those same difficulties played a role in the exchange with Rowe. But the cameras were rolling and that's not what they showed. Sarkisian simply got carried away, and his disrespect started a wave of more disrespect. Like Manning, he should be more thoughtful going forward.
Pete Alonso hits 300th home run at Citi Field
Pete Alonso made his return to Citi Field last night as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, and home crowd was actually rooting for the Polar Bear's success.
For those wondering why Mets fans wanted Alonso to hit a home run against their team -- which he did -- there are several reasons, so one of our resident Mets fans here at FTW, Charles Curtis, went through them all. Including the obvious... they haven't had a lot to cheer for this season.
Pete Alonso grins as Mets fans chant “fire Stearns” after Alonso hit his 300th home run in his old ballpark pic.twitter.com/XbNLhDE7yn
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 16, 2026
For one night, Alonso changed that.
Quick hits: Josh Allen spider scare ... grossest QBs of Week 1 ... and more
- Christian D'Andrea's rankings of the grossest NFL quarterbacks of the week are back.
- Josh Allen had a hilarious reaction to a spider crashing his press conference.
- Here are your fantasy football defense and special teams rankings for Week 2.
- After 1 week of the NFL season, 4 teams may already be looking forward to the 2027 draft for QB help.
- Novig's CEO is defending the Sydney Sweeney ad saying he knew the people who hated her would be loud.
- Conner Leavitt had a classy reaction to his Dancing With the Stars elimination on the first night.
This was For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Steve Sarkisian should follow Arch Manning's example and take some accountability
