PTI - What are fair expectations for Arch Manning?

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

Tony Kornheiser and Pablo Torre discuss Arch Manning , Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick, and Caitlin Clark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Hard in the Russian, but I'm Pablo Torre. It's National. Get to know your customers' date, Tony. So what would you like to ask PTI's viewers?

I'm Tony Kornheiser. Were you even born when we launched this show? That's what I would like to. Oh, one, right? Oh, one. I was a sophomore in high school, actually. Oh, one. I was, I was pupecest.

Sometimes it feels like how I dare you ask. I was a pupecent high schooler. Absolutely. at high school at that point? Yeah. What are you doing on the show today? Huh? What?

Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. Wilbon has the day off, so I'm joined by our great friend, the host of the podcast. Pablo Torre finds out the investigative news machine known as Mr. Pablo Torre. Preserve the Troyes. And we begin today with the opening round

of the British Open at Royal Port Russian Northern Ireland. Nobody is running away with this yet. There are five people from five different countries. 67 minus 4, including former U.S. Open champion, Matt Fitzpatrick. Scotty Schaeffler has won back. Phil Mickelson, at 55 years old, shot one under. Rory McElroy had trouble on the back nine, but shot one under. Pablo, where do you want to start?

Tony, I want to start in a way that I think is different from how you've been consuming this, because I sort of wander around the buffet. I'm a storyline hunter. I'm looking at Rory McElroy's psychoanalysis, right? like after he won the Masters. I'm looking at Scotty Sheffler and the way that he plays the game, given that he's excellent

and also just said recently, how none of this really brings him lasting joy, fascinated by him these days. But Phil Mickelson, to me, is where I go. The gravitational force of Phil Mickelson, a guy that I considered, perhaps the precipitating event

in the dissolution of golf as we understood it, is now 55 and has been better since, I mean, really, 2016 is the last time he's shot this low in an opening round at the open. This is Phil talking about maybe fig jam, his self-appointed nickname, bleep it. You know, I'm good just ask me, right? That's Phil. And so I know you're like hoovering up everything, but I can't, my eyes are trained on Phil

Mickelson and I don't know if I like it. That's fine. But I'm impressed. That's fine. Phil Mickelson's one of the greatest golfers of all time. Yes, he's overshadowed by Tiger Woods, one of the greatest of all time. What he's done with the tail end of his career by making the move that he made has probably cost him a lot of fans, but he's still a very compelling watch on a golf course. Look, there's nobody, you know, there's nobody scary at the top right now.

There's probably 10 to 12 people, maybe a little bit more within two shots. There's probably 20 people within three shots. What we have now, it's all jammed up. It's like the first turn at Daytona right now. I would, of course, pay attention to Scotty Schaeffler. Terrell Hatton is British. Maybe he could win this. Rory McElroy, he's under the most pressure, most of it self-imposed.

He was at minus three at one point, fell back on the back. But, you know, he's okay. Everybody is okay at the moment. Yes, I consume this differently than you do. I watched it all day because it starts at four in the morning and I'm old and I'm up. So I'm watching it. You know, and the first thing I noticed, Pablo, was that everybody was wearing heavy sweaters because it was cold in Northern Ireland.

Outside my house right now in Washington, it's 95 degrees with a heat index of 105, and they are wearing heavy sweaters, and I am so jealous. I am so jealous. All right, we move on. Let's move on with a sort of puzzling public feud between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick, two people who had so much success together, unprecedented success. Now both are sniping at each other, claiming each took a big chance working with the other. Pablo, what does this latest tiff between Kraft and Belichickick say to you?

It says that this isn't that surprising to me. One of the things that I've learned in my study, my investigative study of Bill Belichick, is that one of the precipitating events there was him realizing behind the scenes that Bob Kraft was the guy who owned the rights to this documentary, the 10-part dynasty documentary, that ended up being a real tribute to Bob Kraft and a real criticism by comparison of Bill Belichick. And Don Van Nata, our colleague at ESPN, had the reporting on that one. And to me, my understanding is Belichick never really got over that. He sat for the documentary, didn't know the backstory, and realized,

maybe this is something that I need to take seriously in terms of how he presents himself in public now. This leads us to Jordan Hudson, which I have too much to say about. It leads us now to this in which a small thing feels like it's something deeper. It's bigger than merely the text. It's always the subtext.

Yeah. So, I mean, I'm going to take a different approach to this because you have borrowed into this, and I have not. It just feels very high school to me. It feels very age inappropriate. Kraft is in his 80s. Belichick is in his 70s. And this is like straight out of mean girls. So the latest thing is that Kraft is saying that he took a big risk hiring Belichick, and Belichick

fires back. I took a big risk working for you. In this particular case, I am with Kraft. I mean, Belichick had coached one place as a head coach, Cleveland, where he was 36 and 44 and had one winning season, right? And he really, he had no other job. His biggest credential was an endorsement from Bill Parcells. And he's being offered a job with a team that had three winning seasons in the last four under Parcells and Pete Carroll. So I'm with Kraft on this one. And I don't know what Belichick is talking about. But the overriding thing to me is that, you know, people say craft is hard to work for.

Sure he is. So is Belichick. They are imperious, demanding human beings. beings, I can only assume Pablo that Kraft, and I, because I think he's the antagonist in this, I do, I can only assume he feels he's not getting his due. You know, I mean, to me, what's the reality here to me that the Patriots stink without Tom Brady? And Kraft is still there, and Belichick was there for a while.

So maybe Brady ought to get him in a room and say, boys, let's kiss and make up. Let's do this. Well, well, this, the age inappropriateness of all. of this. I'm going to leave that very nice alley-up to the side for a second. Because what you're talking about here is an eternal battle for credit that will take them into the afterlife. This is entirely what it is. And they both look bad without Brady. You're totally right. But the difference here is that Belichick, Tony, Belichick of your would not respond in public. You wouldn't hear it in that way. And now he is engaged in the same battle that every lesser coach is waging, which is, again, it's some Mickelson.

It's bleep it, I'm good, just ask me. It's all of that. And it's just, it makes him look worse. And I don't know if he and his representatives, he and Jordan Hudson, who is impossible to take out of the story when it comes to his PR strategy, I don't know if they appreciate that. And I don't know if they know the damage, Tony, to the legend and the leg. and the credit that they are trying to preserve. But it's unbelievably petty. It's unbelievably petty.

It's so much bigger in their minds as it is more than it is to anybody else. But we turn to college football where Belichick is these days, but it's the SEC and SEC Media Days that we're looking at because they wrapped up today with one of the highlights

of the whole thing being Texas quarterback Archmanning drawing a media throng on Tuesday. Manning has started just over no two games over two seasons for the Longhorns, but he's being talked about as a Heisman frontrunner and the potential top pick in the NFL draft. So, Tony, what should the expectations be for Arch Manning? I think they should be high, not over the moon because he hasn't played very much, but over his head, you know, something like that. Look, this is Arch Manning, the grandson of Archie, the nephew of Peyton, the nephew of Eli.

This is the royal family of quarterback. When this kid was in high school, he was the number one quarterback, prospect. in the country. He went to Texas. He sat for two years behind Quinn Ewers as a good college quarterback, and now it's his show. He's been waiting, and we've been waiting. And it's not unlike, in my mind, Cooper Flagg at Duke. Texas is a big-time program. Texas was number one in the country last year

for a bunch of weeks. They got in the playoff. They lost to the eventual champion. Ohio State, right, at some point, they got a big-time coach, Steve Sarkeesian. I'll bet it every day in practice. all those recruits talk about winning the national championship. Are we supposed to tamp down expectations from Manning? Are you kidding me?

His kid was born for this moment. You know what they say in the commercial, Pablo? The Wi-Fi is booming, okay? That's it. Yeah, I think the reception here, as it were, should be pretty clear. It should be pressure. It should be expectation. And now we can say it, Tony.

We can say what we couldn't say when you were covering college sports, which is, and that's what the money is for. Okay? Yeah, they're getting paid. He's a pro. He's a pro who is cashing in on the expectation and the hype. It's not merely an undue burden. It is not merely a genetic inheritance.

It is also the job in a more literal way than it's ever been before. And you're right. You tell me, historically, is there a triple generation that has satisfied hype like the Manning's in anything? Like, I just, of course, you know. should expect you know yeah i i think maybe the boone family in baseball but no but yeah it's multi-generational now and these are the madness and it's the most glamorous position and if you think there's not going to be pressure and it's wrong to have pressure you're crazy that's why they recruited him that

you're 100% right that's what the money's for right that's what it's for oh and by the way i'm going to enjoy it i'm going to enjoy it because the thing about sports that i enjoy is that this is hard. It's expected. It's almost predicted and it's insanely difficult to have, you're right, two generations before you, raising the bar at a level that, you know, when LeBron James got chosen one tattooed, it was like, okay, wow, good luck living up to that. Archmanning hasn't opted into that in a literal sense. He hasn't gotten the tattoo, But everything else about this indicates he knows exactly what he signed up for. And it's going to be really hard.

Good luck. From the beginning, he was groomed for it. And if I had to bet could he do it, I'd bet he could. Let's take a break. Coming up, Caitlin Clark will not participate in All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis. What's the word for that? And how best to describe Paul George's diss of the Hornets. So did you get up early to what?

You didn't get up early to watch the British Open like I did. Well, I didn't get up early. That's when I get up. I got to watch all day. I was going to say. It's good. The course is enormous. You could put five aircraft carriers on it. It's so enormous.

Oh. If you thought we just played this game yesterday, you're on to us. What's first? Caitlin Clark missing the WMBA's All-Star weekend is blank. My word is deflating. She's the biggest draw. She's the reason that millions of people tune in to watch the WNBA.

She's the reason why games get moved out of smaller arenas and into NBA arenas. Now, she's hurt, and she is physically unable to play, and this is a shame because it's at her home gym. The thing is in Indianapolis where the fever plays. I mean, look, she was going to be in the three-point contest. She was going to be a captain of one of the All-Star squads. It was set up like a coronation for her.

And I think, and I have to check my notes here. I mean, however many people watch it, I think everybody knows there would have been more. There might have been much more because she's out of it. And I think that everybody in America understands that she drives the bus. Everybody understands it and appreciates it, except the other players in the WNBA, who don't seem to. Well, the word I'm going to push back on is not deflating because I think that's right. the word I'm going to push back on is you saying it might be much more. Tony, this is why my word is nightmarish.

I don't see any ambiguity here. It's incentivized that she should rest because, of course, she's playing the long game now after having a season, by the way, in which he came right out of college and started playing all the games and was exhausted. And that's all true, and that can explain the physical toll she's dealing with right now. But in terms of just what this means,

I look, I go to New York Liberty Games. I love this sport in a way that shocks me because I didn't always. I think it's great. But that does not mean that Caitlin Clark is somehow not the straw that stirs the drink to use a reference from your time. This isn't close. It's just her above everybody when it comes to specifically public interest. That's not a debate.

The interest is not a debate. You can talk about quality and performance. The interest, this is a nightmare to not have her in Indiana. What's next? Paul George's diss of the Hornets was blank. Oblivious. Let me give you the entire Paul George quote here. Quote, if I'm in free agency, I'm not picking Charlotte.

Just because there's no winning culture there. Charlotte is an amazing city. I could see myself living there. But in terms of basketball, my career is over with if I'm going there. unquote. What? What? Your career is essentially over with now. Okay? You gave yourself a ridiculous nickname, Playoff P. You're not very good in the playoffs. You've really never won anything. You know, and you're making, what is the winning culture that you ever created wherever you played? Because you and MB, you don't even play. Don't even play.

Yeah. I'm going to go hyphen. That's podcasting dash baby. is my word. He's a podcaster. Tony, he's one of us. He's like, we're not so different from Paul George in that regard. How dare you blame him for making content? How dare you blame him for having a take?

Paul George learned it from you, Dad. He looked around and said, wait a minute, Tony Cornheiser has a podcast. That guy's, he's pumping out shows. I, basketball player, must also worship at the altar that this business incentivizes me to also do. It's Tony, I get it. He's deeply frustrating. He's the first actually, he's the first athlete I ever interviewed as an ESPN, the magazine reporter. I did a cover story on Paul George

when he was in Indianapolis, going back to Indiana in both stories. And I did not foresee the torture of rooting for someone like this because he's so much better than he should be. He should be so much healthier than he should be. And he should say so much less than he says. And that is just like on some level, I like it. On another level, it's the worst. You're kinder than I am. That's the final word. Unless we play this game for a third time in a row tomorrow. Oh, no. Let's take one last break, but still to come, the T.J. Watt contract drama appears to be resolved. And the Chargers become the first NFL team to open up training camp. Is it football season already?

I hope so. I hope it's coming soon. Wilburne loves Paul George. We go back and forth on Paul George all the time. He loves him. He does. Happy time, people. Happy 58th birthday, Kevin Pritchard. He's the president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers, who just got through being in the NBA finals, which nobody expected at the beginning of the season. So Pritchard has to get a lot of credit for that. But he just lost two of his best players for next season. Tyrese Halliburton to an injury and Miles Turner to the Milwaukee Bucks as a free agent. Pritchard said he found out Turner was gone on social media. Pritchard himself was a starting guard on Larry. Brown's 1988 NCAA championship team in Kansas.

Pritchard was the general manager in Portland and drafted Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, so you win some and you lose some. You know, I was wondering, why are we doing Kevin Pritchard today? And by the way, yes, good to honor him. He's a skilled GM. And then I saw the Larry Brown thing. And I was like, oh, this always goes back to Cornizer and his camp counselor Larry Brown and the coaching tree therein.

Again, good for Kevin Pritchard. But mostly, I see the game you're playing. I see what's happening. It's like Wilbon and the Cubs. Sure, or Wilbon and the Bulls. Absolutely. Happy anniversary, Jeremy Lynn. On this day, 13 years ago,

Lynn's sanity officially ended in New York when the Knicks decided not to match the offer Lynn got from the Rockets. For the next two seasons in Houston, Lynn averaged 13 points and five assists a game, mostly as a starter. Then Lynn had one year with the Lakers, one in Charlotte, two with the Nets,

and one more season split between Atlanta and Toronto in their championship run. Lynn averaged 11 points and four assists over all those years, but never repeated the impact he had had for those few glorious weeks with the Knicks. Pablo, when you were at the University of Harvard, Jeremy Lynn was there as well. Did you know him? You know, I wrote a sidebar for the paper, and the title was Asians in the outfield. It was a list of all of the Asian and part Asian athletes at Harvard,

and he was the last name on the list, Jeremy Shuhau Lynn. I then profiled him when he was a senior at Harvard, and I, of course, had my life changed by him, so yes. To go Wilbon on you more than yes. Of course I know him. Good to know. Happy trails to the T.J. Watt contract drama with the Steelers. The Great Pass Rusher has reportedly agreed to terms on a new three-year deal worth $108 million guarantee.

His annual salary of $41 million makes Watt the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Watt is a seven-time pro bowler. He had 11.5 sacks last season, has 108 over his eight seasons with the team. His desire for a new deal had been an ongoing issue in Pittsburgh, but no longer. So now the Steelers enter the season with T.J. Watt on one side of the ball and Aaron Rogers on the other. It's been a hell of a week for the Watt family, Tony, T.J. pushing the union forward through that salary, his brother, JJ, getting into the weeds on the union investigation that I'd been doing, by the way, which is a whole other rabbit hole. Yes, they are both moving their constituency forward in different ways, those watts. Big week.

All right. Let's go to the big finish. The Chargers opened training camp today, Pablo. Are you surprised? I am because it is actually football at the first team to do it. And Mike Williams, by the way, yeah, he's retired. So, you know, or he's on the way out. That's a problem.

Leo Messi's streak of five straight games with two goals, Tony handed last night. When FC Cincinnati shut out inner Miami, you disappointed. I am. I was hoping he'd get two more. I was hoping he'd do it all the time. I mean, he's the greatest thing in the MLS. He's there, Caitlin Clark. Many Pacquiao, coming out of retirement to fight in two nights. Your feelings about that? My God, now I feel old. I'm just glad he's, you know, not running for Senate again, which is a thing he actually was in the Philippines. Connor McDavid and Leon Drysidal reportedly played in a beer league game in Ontario. Do you like it, Tony? No, I love it, but I heard they didn't even score. I can't believe that. Last one, Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson,

reportedly on track to be healthy for training camp. Do you find that significant? Of course, he's a largely broken player, and I just mean that in terms of reputation. He needs to rebuild everything now. We're out of time. We were trying to do better the next time. I'm Tony Corneheuser.

And I'm Pablo Torre. Thank you for watching. Pablo Torre finds out is the show where I investigate things, but for now, your sports center. You know,