Mike On Sports: Manning Family is Handling Things Better Than LeBron

I’m gonna give Texas backup QB Arch Manning some props. People think I dislike Manning because I said he would have been a 3-star recruit out of high school if his name was Arch Smith. But I don’t dislike him or the Manning family. And he and his family are handling everything well.

Why does Arch come to mind this week? Because of Bronny James . Bronny, the son of LeBron James , seems to be a nice kid. By all accounts he’s handling the overrating of his skills based on his last name similar to Arch, with little sense of entitlement and with class. Like Arch, Bronny would have been a 3-star recruit out of high school if his name was Bronny Smith but aside from that there’s a clear difference. Arch can dominate college football at some point and be an NFL superstar, he has that long term potential. Bronny was below average in college and doesn’t belong in the NBA — at all. And that’s not his fault, it’s LeBron who has shoehorned him into a bad situation and I’ll have more on that in a separate column.

Bronny is a 6-1 guard who doesn’t shoot well and can’t distribute. He lacks the measurables and skill set to be an above average pro player. Arch is 6-4, has a solid arm and the size, mobility and field awareness to be good or even great down the line. Was he great in high school? Hell no. There was no way on the planet he should have been ranked No. 1 and as a 5-star prospect playing weak competition and struggling every time he had to step up against better talent. But he has a much better shot at being a legit pro than Bronny.

Cooper Manning has handled Arch well and Archie Manning , Peyton Manning and Eli Manning have said all the right things. Yes, this is the family that forced the San Diego Chargers to trade Eli to the New York Giants and of course they are a bit entitled. But so far so good with Arch.

LeBron James has handled this all wrong. He’s forcing his own team to draft his son who isn’t NBA caliber and he’s pushing his kid way ahead of schedule to meet his own selfish wants as he’s closer to retirement. He wants to play basketball with his son and he’s forcing everyone else to go along with this version of Daddy Ball.

So while Arch was overrated and likely won’t live up to the ridiculous hype set upon him by evaluators saying he’s a rare prospect and the best QB in decades, he and his family are taking their time. He’s okay going into year two as a backup and hasn’t sniffed the transfer portal. And for that I commend him as the family could instead be rushing him out on the field at his second stop and hindering his development — just like LeBron is for his son.