Arch Manning and life as the nation’s top quarterback recruit in a family of quarterback royalty

NEW ORLEANS — When Texas coach Steve Sarkisian connected with one of the country’s most famous high school football players on FaceTime one afternoon in July, he couldn’t hear the prospect because of a pinging noise in the background.

“Are you at an arcade?” Sarkisian asked. “Where are you?”

“Coach, it’s kind of embarrassing,” the quarterback said. “I’m babysitting. I’m at an arcade, but they’ve got enough coins to keep them busy for the next 30 minutes.”

That’s right, Arch Manning, the No. 2 high school player in the Class of 2023 and part of the third generation of football’s most famous family, babysits two days a week during the summer and occasionally on the weekend. He doesn’t play video games and isn’t active on social media.

“He has such a good level of humility,” said Nelson Stewart, Manning’s coach at Isidore Newman School. “He doesn’t like attention and he doesn’t draw attention to himself. He just likes hanging out with his friends.”

As the son of Cooper, grandson of Archie, and nephew of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Eli and Peyton, it would be easy for Arch to have an ego the size of nearby Lake Pontchartrain. But in the era of name, image and likeness, TikTok and Twitter, he seems like an anomaly. Outside of five posts on his private Instagram, he mostly stays off social media.

“I check it for other stuff, but I’m not really on there much,” Arch said. “I don’t really feel like dealing with all of that.”

At least for now, Arch, 17, prefers to keep details of his day-to-day life and where he might be going to college private. The junior isn’t expected to announce college football recruiting’s most anticipated decision until at least next spring.

“It is a huge rarity, but it’s also very refreshing,” Stewart said. “I think now kids look at scholarship offers almost like a patch on a letter jacket. It’s not about the offers, it’s about announcing you’re blessed and humbled and whatnot to draw attention to yourself. It’s so refreshing to have a kid…