Texas had barely finished one of the wildest wins, and concerns followed. The Longhorns erased a 20-point deficit against No. 1 Ohio State and won 24-23. Arch Manning played a major role in the rally. Two days later, his comments about Holly Rowe turned the mood sharply.
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Manning was asked about AI edits circulating after the game. One showed Texas coach Steve Sarkisian in a violent gesture with Rowe. Manning said he had seen it and laughed about the clip. He specifically referred to it as “hilarious.” That reaction quickly drew criticism. Cindy Brunson did not find any of it funny.
Now, Brunson has made her feelings on the matter clear. In light of this, Holly Rowe has broken her silence to thank her with a “Thank you, Cindy,❤️” message posted online.
“While she may not wear a police officer’s uniform or a nurse’s hat, Holly is a helper,” Cindy Brunson wrote in her Instagram post. “Thanks to Holly, I’ve been able to help so many young women looking to work in the sports TV coverage space. So if you’re making fun of this Hall of Famer and not taking those reporters to task who were in that Longhorns press room with the QB1 (Arch Manning) laughing right along with him, then all I can say is that you are doing it all completely wrong.”
Brunson was an ESPN reporter for over a decade since 1999. She also pointed to something else that made the online reaction harder for her to accept. Rowe was dealing with cancer when she helped Brunson. Rowe was first diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
She underwent surgery and returned to work while continuing treatment. In 2016, another tumor required surgery, and later that year she learned the disease had spread to her lungs. She eventually underwent immunotherapy treatment at UCLA.
“Sideline Reporting was new for me. So I turned to one of the best in the business that I know, Holly,” Cindy wrote. “Not only did she graciously give me some of her time while she was on a WNBA assignment in Los Angeles reporting on the Sparks sideline. She shared some tricks & tools that I have since shared with other young women interested in reporting. Oh, and she helped me after she had recently been diagnosed with cancer as well and clearly was in the thick of the fight.”
Rowe became a regular part of ESPN’s coverage in 1998. Over the years, she has worked across college football, men’s and women’s basketball, softball, and the WNBA. In 2021, she made history, becoming the first woman color commentator for the Utah Jazz.
Two years later, the Basketball Hall of Fame gave her the 2023 Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award.
While the initial impression pointed to a snub, Sarkisian did not simply refuse to speak to Rowe out of nowhere. ESPN’s Laura Rutledge later explained that the Texas HC had waited through technical problems before the halftime interview and that ESPN owed him an apology. After the game, another round of technical problems reportedly affected the postgame interview.
A Texas spokesperson also said those problems played a role in what happened during the interview. Moreover, Sarkisian had just watched his team complete a 24-23 comeback after trailing Ohio State 23-3.
When Rowe tried to interview him, he shouted “Texas fight” and “Hook ’em” before leaving to celebrate with his players and the crowd. Rowe’s frustrated reaction became part of the viral clip. That has created two separate debates.
One was about Sarkisian and the way he handled the interview. The other became much uglier after the AI video appeared online. Brunson’s criticism focused on the second one.
She argued that people had turned Rowe into the punchline instead of remembering the person behind the television role. She also questioned why more attention was not being directed toward the reporters in the room who laughed along with Manning.
For Arch Manning, the comeback ended with a bigger controversy than the 24-23 scoreline. What started as a laugh over an AI clip has now put his comments about Holly Rowe under a much harsher spotlight.