‘A uniquely American job’: What it takes to be a big-time college quarterback

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Arch Manning was talking about his golf game, replying to a throwaway question at Texas’ SEC football media day about how he blows off steam in the offseason.

The Longhorns quarterback said he’d been hitting the links regularly on the weekends, tagging along most recently with a buddy who was a member at Barton Creek Country Club to play the Ben Crenshaw-designed course in Austin.

The driver, Manning said, had been working particularly well, so well that the 10-handicap golfer had just broke 80 for the first time. This was back in July, less than a week before the Longhorns would head into full preseason workouts, and Manning admitted that his golf days were numbered.

“I’m going to have to stop here in a week or so until about February,” he said,

A reporter interrupted before Manning could finish his thought. “Not January?” he asked. Manning looked quizzically at him. “Whenever the season ends,” Manning replied, to which the reporter responded, “The season ends at the end of January.”

Manning smiled. “Right, so I’ll be playing golf again in February.’’

This is what it is to be a college quarterback, where simple exchanges have hidden messages – or worse, landmines to avoid – and to speak is to risk having your every word parsed. It is chronic accountability coupled with crippling responsibility. It is to be the big man on campus, until you become the biggest loser. It is to be both Fernando Mendoza , Heisman winner, and Alberto Mendoza, recruited-over backup forced to transfer.

It is to possess a strong arm, a sharp mind, a rhinoceros’ thick skin and a goldfish’s memory.

“People say good things about you when you win and bad things about you when you lose,” Ohio State signal-caller Julian Sayin said during the Buckeyes’ Big Ten media day.

Sayin stopped to smile. “Actually, sometimes they say bad things about you when you win, too.”

On one hand, it is fair to ponder: Who would want such a job?

But on the other, is the truth. Who wouldn’t? In the hierarchy of sporting alpha males, there is no one higher than quarterback. They are the varsity jacket-wearing, high school heartthrobs and the NFL ad pitchmen, the players kids clamor to be and who companies want to associate with.

Lost in the fanfare is the very delicate balance they are asked to walk between fame and infamy, adulation and abuse, but the allure makes it hard not to want to take the walk.

“It is a uniquely American job,” says author and ESPN.com writer Seth Wickersham, who sought to understand the position of quarterback in his book, “American Kings.”

“You wear all of these hats that no other sport requires you to wear. Amateur psychologist, spokesperson, breathtaking a**hole, all of these things you have to be and not everybody has it and to this day, I don’t think anybody knows where it comes from.”

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No doubt in part aided by the availability of NIL money, this year’s crop of college signal-callers is especially abundant. Of the top 20 players with odds to win the Heisman Trophy by BetMGM, only two party-crashing wide receivers, Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State) and Malachi Toney (University of Miami), break up the glut of quarterbacks.

They all arrived via different paths. Some took the one less traveled – Trinidad Chambliss went from Division II Ferris State to Ole Miss. Others took the scenic route. Miami’s Darian Mensah started at Tulane, transferred to Duke and then hightailed it to join the Hurricanes this year. And one took a direct snap – BYU’s Bear Bachmeier became the Cougars’ first freshman to start behind center in school history when he debuted against Portland State last season.

This weekend, two – Manning and Sayin – will go head-to-head in a top-5 rematch of a game that ought to serve as a quarterback cautionary tale.

After the Buckeyes topped the Longhorns, 14-7, in 2025, Manning was tabbed an automatic flop and Sayin destined to chart the path to another national title for OSU. Neither, of course, held true. Manning got better over time, putting the bow on his season with 376 total yards and four touchdowns against Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.

“I think … what he got put through probably would have melted or destroyed 99% of people in his shoes,” Manning’s coach Steve Sarkisian said. “All he did was stay consistent and true to who he was, which was to continue to work hard, continue to be a great teammate, try to get better, and he did.”

Sayin, in the meantime, struggled to the finish. He was bumpy in a win against Michigan and then came up short in the Big Ten championship game against Indiana and in the first-round playoff loss against Miami.

“Julian Sayin has a different look in his eye,” his coach, Ryan Day, said. “He had great success last year. Won his first start ever, home against Texas, top five matchup. Won our rivalry game in the sideways snow. Came up short at the end of the year. We all did. When you look in his eye now, you see a different person, a different body. He’s worked.”

Whether Manning comes into his own or Sayin shows a new glimmer remains to be seen. But it won’t stop the conjecture before the game – or the referendums after it.

“Everyone has an opinion, and people are paid to talk in the media,” Manning said. “There’s nothing you can do. I’m controlling the controllables, but it probably lights a little bit of a fire in me.”

Which is, of course, one of the great separators of quarterbacks from mere mortals. They want the smoke. For all that fans project on them – assuming they are the smartest, best looking, standard of masculinity – they bring their own set of necessary traits to the table, too.

A degree of arrogance is required for the position, a willingness to absorb the spotlight partnered with the certainty that you are built to handle it.

“As a kid, you grow up and you dream of being in that situation,” said John Mateer, Oklahoma’s starter. Which, really, every kid does. Who hasn’t hustled out into the backyard to mimic their sports heroes?

But it is one thing to make believe; it is altogether a different story to do the job and do it well.

Wickersham spent more than a year writing his book and cultivated the background from a sportswriting life spent observing QBs. He once dreamed of being one himself, which is what ignited the curiosity. He talked to, among others, John Elway, Steve Young and Warren Moon, while also traipsing around youth camps and talking to kids tabbed as the next insert-name-of-great-QB-here.

He believes quarterbacks can be both curated and created. Some have innate talent that is naturally honed and directed. A kid with a gun for an arm and physical gifts is directed behind center much like the wily speedster heads to the wide receiver or defensive back group.

Others, for certain, are incubated by gridiron versions of cheer moms, who shuffle their sons around in search of stardom.

But both, he says, eventually develop a brash confidence that allows them master the position. Wickersham says, with only the slightest of chuckles, that every quarterback is something of a sociopath and likens them to politicians in the middle of a race. They require bad news filters and chronic reassurance and, contrary to the arrogance required, also have a high degree of insecurity.

He even chronicles Tom Brady’s love life evolution – from dating Tara Reid to marrying Giselle Bündchen – as the evidence of the quarterback mindset.

“That’s not a mistake,” Wickersham says. “The quarterback, he can’t not dominate things.”

The college game is a curious fishbowl. It is at once not nearly as big as the NFL and yet somehow the spotlight can feel even more glaring. It is a new experience, for starters, with most players getting their first foray into stardom, which can be undercut by at least an attempt at campus normalcy. They walk among us, if you will.

Manning has said that often, while walking to class, he’d call his mom, Ellen, so as to avoid either the finger-pointing or the picture requests. Manning, of course, was born for this. The grandson of Archie and nephew of Peyton and Eli, he is next in line in the first family of football. Before he threw a pass, he starred in a national commercial.

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Not playing was not an option. Asked what he might do if he couldn’t play a sport, Manning looks genuinely perplexed, as if a life without sport had never crossed his mind. Likely because it hadn’t.

“Would he be who he is if he was in a different family?” Wickersham says. “I mean, probably not, right?”

What’s interesting is that, despite all that life prep, Manning’s transition to starter was bumpy.

His overall passing efficiency rating for the 2025 season was 144.92, 42nd nationally and seventh in the SEC.

Meanwhile, Chambliss started his career at Ferris, a small school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Though the program is good – the Bulldogs have won four national titles – there’s no national TV deal. Top Taggart Field seats 6,200. No one knew who he was, really.

After transferring to Ole Miss, he was designated Austin Simmons’ backup – until Simmons got hurt. Suddenly, there was Chambliss under center against Arkansas, in front of 65,000 screaming Rebel fans. He threw for more than 400 yards and three touchdowns against the Razorbacks.

He started this season ranked as the No. 1 quarterback in the SEC – ahead of Georgia’s Gunner Stockton and Sam Leavitt at LSU, both four-star prospects and Alabama’s Keelon Russell, the No. 2 prospect in his class.

“It’s been a crazy ride,” Chambliss said. “I tend not to really look at any of the rankings. I know they have no influence on my team and what our goals are and what we know in our facility. But yeah, I mean, it’s cool they have me ranked that way.”

Mateer bumped into Terry Bradshaw at a Dallas-area card show this off season. The two connected via the rarefied air of their profession.

Only 22, Mateer was born nearly two decades after Bradshaw retired. He knew him as a Fox TV analyst, not as a four-time Super Bowl winner.

Last season, Mateer broke a bone in his throwing hand in September and, though he returned quickly, was not nearly himself. The injury played with his head as much as his game, robbing him of his confidence and physicality.

Oklahoma went 2-2 in October, with Mateer only completing 58% of his passes. He says he watches those game films and cringes.

So, when he did some digging on Bradshaw, he learned not just about his success but his style of play – he had a cannon for an arm but was known just as much for his fearlessness – and Mateer grew intrigued. He found some old film and started watching.

“Terry Bradshaw, y’all, you’re not going to believe it,” Mateer says as if he found a secret sauce.

“The way he makes plays and throws the ball around, it’s old school,” he said of Bradshaw. “You take some of the old-school stuff and add it to your game – not a lot of people are going to expect that.”

In last week’s season opener, albeit against UTEP, he threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns.

Watching from the sideline in a Boomer red shirt and a cowboy hat was Bradshaw, the past watching the future, understanding and appreciating the opportunity, the pressure and the glory as only someone in the small quarterback fraternity can.

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在德克萨斯大学SEC橄榄球媒体日上，有人随意问阿奇·曼宁，他在休赛期如何放松身心，而阿奇·曼宁则在谈论他的高尔夫球技。

这位德克萨斯长角牛队的四分卫表示，他周末经常去打高尔夫，最近一次是和一位巴顿溪乡村俱乐部的会员朋友一起去奥斯汀打本·克伦肖设计的球场。

曼宁说，他的开球杆状态特别好，好到这位差点10的球手第一次打出了低于80杆的成绩。当时是7月份，距离德克萨斯长角牛队开始全面的季前训练不到一周，曼宁承认，他的高尔夫生涯已经屈指可数了。

“我大概一周后就得暂时离开这里，直到二月份左右，”他说。

曼宁还没说完，就被记者打断了。“不是一月份吗？”他问道。曼宁疑惑地看着他。“赛季结束的时候就结束了，”曼宁回答道。记者接着说：“赛季在一月底结束。”

曼宁笑了。“没错，那我二月份又能打高尔夫了。”

这就是大学四分卫的生存之道：简单的交流中暗藏玄机——或者更糟，暗藏陷阱——说话就意味着你的每一句话都会被仔细推敲。这是长期的问责制，伴随着沉重的责任感。你曾是校园里的风云人物，直到沦为最大的失败者。你既是海斯曼奖得主费尔南多·门多萨，也是被排挤在外的替补阿尔贝托·门多萨，被迫转学。

它需要拥有强壮的手臂、敏锐的头脑、犀牛般的厚皮和金鱼般的记忆力。

“当你赢球时，人们会说你的好话；当你输球时，人们会说你的坏话，”俄亥俄州立大学四分卫朱利安·萨因在俄亥俄州立大学十大联盟媒体日上说道。

萨因停下来笑了笑。“其实，有时候你赢了，他们也会说你坏话。”

一方面，人们不禁要问：谁会想要这样的工作呢？

但另一方面，事实也的确如此。谁不想呢？在体育界的精英阶层中，没有谁比四分卫地位更高。他们是身穿校队夹克的高中偶像，是NFL广告的代言人，是孩子们梦寐以求的榜样，也是各大公司争相合作的对象。

在喧嚣的背后，人们往往忽略了他们被要求在名誉与恶名、赞美与谩骂之间小心翼翼地保持平衡，但这种诱惑让人难以抗拒地想要走上这条路。

“这是一份独具美国特色的工作，”作家兼 ESPN.com 撰稿人塞思·威克沙姆说道，他在他的著作《美国国王》中试图了解四分卫这个职位。

“你得身兼数职，这是其他任何运动都不需要的。业余心理学家、发言人、令人瞠目结舌的混蛋，你必须扮演所有这些角色，但并非人人都能做到，而且直到今天，我认为没有人知道这种能力从何而来。”

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毫无疑问，得益于NIL（姓名、形象和肖像权）资金的充裕，今年的大学四分卫人才济济。在BetMGM博彩公司开出的海斯曼奖赔率榜前20名球员中，只有两名外接手——俄亥俄州立大学的杰里迈亚·史密斯和迈阿密大学的马拉奇·托尼——打破了四分卫人才过剩的局面。

他们一路走来，各有不同。有些人选择了人迹罕至的路——特立尼达·钱布利斯从二级联赛的费里斯州立大学转学到了密西西比大学。有些人则走了风景优美的路线。迈阿密大学的达里安·门萨先是在杜兰大学打球，之后转学到杜克大学，今年又迅速加盟了飓风队。还有一位球员直接接球上场——杨百翰大学的贝尔·巴赫迈尔在上赛季对阵波特兰州立大学的比赛中首次亮相，成为该校历史上首位担任首发四分卫的大一新生。

本周末，曼宁和萨因这两位四分卫将再次交锋，上演一场前五名之间的对决，这场比赛应该会成为四分卫们的警示故事。

2025年，俄亥俄州立大学七叶树队以14比7战胜德克萨斯长角牛队后，曼宁被认为注定会失败，而萨因则被认为将带领俄亥俄州立大学再夺全国冠军。当然，这些预测都没有成真。曼宁的表现随着时间的推移越来越好，在柑橘碗对阵密歇根大学的比赛中，他以376码的总推进码数和4次达阵为自己的赛季画上了圆满的句号。

“我认为……他所经历的一切，换作99%的人，恐怕早就崩溃了，”曼宁的教练史蒂夫·萨克西恩说道。“但他始终如一，忠于自我，那就是继续努力训练，继续做一个优秀的队友，努力提升自己，而他也做到了。”

与此同时，萨因的状态却一路下滑。他在战胜密歇根大学的比赛中表现起伏不定，随后在十大联盟冠军赛对阵印第安纳大学的比赛中失利，并在季后赛首轮对阵迈阿密大学的比赛中败北。

“朱利安·萨因的眼神都不一样了，”他的教练瑞恩·戴说道。“他去年取得了巨大的成功。职业生涯首秀就赢了，主场对阵德克萨斯大学，那可是前五强之间的较量。我们还在横着的雪地里赢下了德比战。可惜赛季末我们功亏一篑，我们所有人都一样。现在你再看他，你会发现他判若两人，身形也完全不一样了。他付出了很多努力。”

曼宁能否发挥出最佳水平，或者萨因能否展现出新的潜力，目前还不得而知。但这并不会阻止赛前的各种猜测，也不会阻止赛后的舆论风暴。

“每个人都有自己的看法，而且媒体也靠发表言论赚钱，”曼宁说。“你对此无能为力。我只能控制自己能控制的事情，但这可能确实激起了我内心的一丝怒火。”

当然，这正是四分卫与普通球员最大的区别之一。他们渴望挑战。尽管球迷们对他们寄予厚望——认为他们是最聪明、最英俊、最具男子气概的典范——但他们自身也具备一系列必要的特质。

这个职位需要一定程度的傲慢，愿意成为众人瞩目的焦点，并且确信自己能够胜任。

“小时候，你长大后就会梦想着能身处那样的境地，”俄克拉荷马大学的首发投手约翰·马蒂尔说道。的确，每个孩子都这样想过。谁没在后院里飞奔着模仿自己的体育英雄呢？

但假装是一回事，真正去做并做好又是另一回事。

威克沙姆花了超过一年的时间创作这本书，他早年从事体育写作，长期观察四分卫，这些经历为他积累了丰富的经验。他曾梦想自己也能成为一名四分卫，正是这份梦想激发了他的好奇心。他采访了约翰·埃尔韦、史蒂夫·杨和沃伦·穆恩等人，同时还走访了青少年训练营，与那些被誉为下一个伟大四分卫的孩子们交流。

他认为四分卫既可以后天培养，也可以后天造就。有些人天生具有天赋，只需稍加磨练和引导即可。一个臂力惊人、身体素质出众的孩子，会被安排到中锋位置，就像那些速度奇快的球员会被安排到外接手或防守后卫的位置一样。

可以肯定的是，还有一些人是由橄榄球场上的啦啦队妈妈们一手培养出来的，她们把自己的儿子们推来推去，只为让他们成为明星。

但他表示，两人最终都会培养出一种傲慢的自信，使他们能够胜任这个位置。威克沙姆轻笑一声，说道，每个四分卫都有些反社会人格，并将他们比作竞选中的政客。他们需要过滤坏消息，需要不断地得到安慰，而且，与所需的傲慢相反，他们内心深处也极度缺乏安全感。

他甚至记录了汤姆·布雷迪的爱情生活演变——从与塔拉·里德约会到与吉赛尔·邦辰结婚——以此作为四分卫心态的证据。

“那不是失误，”威克沙姆说。“四分卫不可能不主宰比赛。”

大学橄榄球就像一个奇特的鱼缸。它远不及NFL那样引人注目，但不知为何，聚光灯却显得更加刺眼。首先，这是一种全新的体验，大多数球员都是第一次踏入明星之路，而他们至少会努力融入校园生活，这可能会削弱这种体验。可以说，他们就生活在我们中间。

曼宁曾说过，他经常在去上课的路上给妈妈艾伦打电话，以免被家人指指点点或要求合影。当然，曼宁天生就是干这行的料。他是阿奇的孙子，佩顿和伊莱的侄子，是橄榄球世家的接班人。在正式投球之前，他就已经出演过全国性的商业广告了。

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不打球对他来说是不可能的。当被问及如果不能打球会做什么时，曼宁一脸茫然，仿佛从未想过没有体育的生活。或许是因为他真的没想过。

“如果他生活在另一个家庭，他还会是现在的他吗？”威克沙姆说。“我的意思是，可能不会，对吧？”

有趣的是，尽管做了那么多生活准备，曼宁成为首发投手的过程却并不顺利。

他在 2025 赛季的整体传球效率评分为 144.92，在全国排名第 42 位，在 SEC 排名第七。

与此同时，钱布利斯在密歇根州大急流城的一所小型学校——费里斯州立大学——开始了职业生涯。尽管该校的橄榄球项目实力不俗——斗牛犬队曾四次夺得全国冠军——但却没有全国电视转播合同。主场塔格特球场可容纳6200名观众。事实上，当时几乎没人知道他是谁。

转学到密西西比大学后，他被指定为奥斯汀·西蒙斯的替补——直到西蒙斯受伤。突然间，钱布利斯出现在了对阵阿肯色大学的比赛中，在65000名呐喊助威的叛逆者球迷面前。他对阵剃刀背队时传球超过400码，并完成了三次达阵。

本赛季开始时，他被评为 SEC 排名第一的四分卫——领先于佐治亚大学的 Gunner Stockton 和路易斯安那州立大学的 Sam Leavitt（两人均为四星级新秀），以及阿拉巴马大学的 Keelon Russell（同届排名第二的新秀）。

“这真是一段疯狂的旅程，”钱布利斯说道。“我一般不太关注排名。我知道排名对我的球队、我们的目标以及我们队内的情况都没有影响。不过，能被这样排名也挺酷的。”

休赛期，马蒂尔在达拉斯地区的一次扑克牌展上偶遇了特里·布拉德肖。两人因他们所处的这个特殊行业而结缘。

马蒂尔只有22岁，他出生时布拉德肖已经退役近20年了。他认识布拉德肖时，他只是福克斯电视台的评论员，而​​不是四届超级碗冠军得主。

上赛季，马蒂尔在九月份投掷手骨折，虽然他很快就复出，但状态远不如从前。伤病不仅影响了他的比赛，也影响了他的心理状态，让他失去了自信和体能。

俄克拉荷马大学10月份的战绩是2胜2负，马蒂尔的传球成功率只有58%。他说他每次看比赛录像都会觉得尴尬不已。

所以，当他深入研究布拉德肖时，不仅了解到他的成功，还了解到他的比赛风格——他拥有一记重拳，但同样以无所畏惧著称——马蒂尔对此产生了浓厚的兴趣。他找到了一些老电影，开始观看。

“特里·布拉德肖，你们肯定不会相信的，”马蒂尔说道，仿佛他发现了什么秘方。

“他打球和传球的方式都很老派，”他谈到布拉德肖时说。“你把一些老派的技巧融入到你的比赛中——很多人都不会想到这一点。”

在上周的赛季揭幕战中，尽管对手是德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校（UTEP），但他仍然传球225码，并完成了三次达阵。

布拉德肖身穿一件 Boomer 红色球衣，头戴牛仔帽，在场边观战，他代表着过去，也代表着未来，他理解并珍惜着这个机会、压力和荣耀，只有身处四分卫这个小圈子的人才能做到。