Tom Brady responds to Arch Manning critics, defends Texas QB amid struggles: 'Give people a chance to learn'

With the Texas offense and Arch Manning looking to rebound Saturday at Mississippi State following a slow start to SEC play, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady said this week the media scrutiny facing the Longhorns quarterback is a sign of the times.

Every pass and decision this season from the former five-star has been placed under the microscope for all to see, discounting much of his 1,449 yards through the air and 12 touchdowns across five wins in seven starts.

"Before, [players] had the kind of ability to fail when people weren't watching, to build that resiliency within themselves," Brady told Sports Illustrated. So I think it's a real challenge these days for these young kids because Arch Manning, you know, seems like a great kid and great player."

At Michigan, Brady went 20-5 overall after moving into the starting quarterback role as a junior and senior. When he was playing, however, you could make a mistake and not here about it throughout the following week leading into your next game.

Even Arch Manning's famous uncles who won multiple Super Bowls in the NFL didn't fact the criticism he has received this early in his career.

"Peyton had a lot of years to develop," Brady said. "Eli had a lot of years to develop and, you know, I was a college kid once, too, and I wasn't the best quarterback at that time. And how people remember me after my pro career was a lot different than I remember me after my college career, which is a lot different than me how they remember me after my high school year.  So give people a chance to learn and grow and develop and put them in the right situation."

Earlier this season after an opening-weekend loss at Ohio State, Brady said Manning would need to "learn from adversity" and not listen to detractors.

Manning started the 2025 season as the Heisman frontrunner before those odds tanked after his first couple of starts with varied levels of success.

After scoring 16 points in last week's overtime win at Kentucky despite offensive issues, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian gave a simple message to his quarterback.

"For a quarterback, when you get those opportunities when you have layups, I don't think you need to overthink it," he said. "You just need to take the layup."