Arch Manning said his piece. Holly Rowe accepted his apology. Case closed, or so it seemed. The college football community, however, wasn’t ready to move on. A resurfaced 2012 Sugar Bowl video showing Rowe appearing rude toward a communications staffer has reignited the conversation, giving the Manning-Rowe controversy an unexpected second act.
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On September 15, Apple TV+ MLB Friday Night reporter Tricia Whitaker took to X to condemn Manning’s words about Rowe, delivering a pointed message that brought the controversy roaring back into the spotlight, “Imagine Holly Rowe’s face in that despicable AI video was your daughter’s. Your wife’s. Your sister’s. Still funny?”
However, in the comments section, a fan shared a video from 2012 showing Rowe appearing to shove a reporter who was there to interview Michigan football coach Brady Hoke after the Wolverines defeated Virginia Tech 23-20 in overtime to win the Sugar Bowl.
The controversy unfolded after the game when Sugar Bowl media relations director John Sudsbury sent a staff member to get “quick quotes” from Hoke for reporters on deadline. Sudsbury later apologized for the mix-up, admitting it was “bad communication, probably on my part.”
“Our reporters are usually right there in [the coach’s] hip pocket,” Ed Placey, ESPN’s coordinating producer of college football, said, according to an ESPN piece from 2012. But in the chaos, Rowe was late getting into position, and someone else was already there.
As Rowe moved in to speak with Hoke, Sudbury’s staffer was already there, asking the coach questions. Rowe recalled that she intervened, saying, “I said ‘no no no’ and slid in between her and the coach, put my arm around him.”
After the incident, Rowe felt uneasy about what had happened. When she later watched the footage from ESPN’s elevated camera angle, she decided to clear the air. The following day, she approached Sudsbury’s staffer, whom she had known from previous games.
According to Rowe, the staffer assured her that she was not offended, and the two ended up laughing about the incident. Sudsbury said the staffer “had no problem whatsoever.”
“I feel bad that people think it was something mean,” said Rowe days after the entire fiasco. “It happens all the time. It will happen again. You do have to be aggressive to get your interview.”
That controversy ended that very night. However, a decade later, it has resurfaced amid the entire Manning comments episode. It is worth noting that Rowe apologized for the situation and later gave her statement explaining what happened.
The clip’s resurfacing has less to do with 2012 than with how Texas fans are using it now to undermine Rowe in the Manning controversy. It started when Steve Sarkisian abruptly ended his postgame interview with Holly Rowe following Texas’s comeback win over Ohio State. Many media members didn’t like what the Texas head coach did.
Following that incident, an AI-generated edit of the interaction surfaced online. The clip had the Texas head coach slapping the ESPN reporter. The video gained more prominence on Monday when a reporter asked Arch Manning about it. The Texas QB1 laughed about the edit. A day later, Manning took to Instagram to say that his reaction was insensitive.
“I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she personally had to deal with because of my comments. I have a ton of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace in this moment,” Manning said.
In response, Rowe accepted the apology, adding, “We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.” And while Arch Manning and Rowe had decided to end the matter, the fans are clearly not done with it.