Alabama Athletics
Archie Manning Impressed with Bryce Young's 'Cool Customer' Demeanor for Alabama
For almost any generation of football fans, the name Manning is synonymous with football greatness. Earlier on Tuesday, Bryce Young was named the winner of the Manning Award. It is unique in the fact that it is given out after all the bowl games have been played.
Tuesday afternoon, quarterback legend Archie Manning presented the award to Young over Zoom and paid the Alabama quarterback quite the compliment.
"I tell my friends, I've seen a lot of quarterback play, but I call Bryce a cool customer," Manning said. "I've just never seen anyone that plays in such a relaxed manner and plays so well.”
Being the quarterback at the University of Alabama, especially in recent years, is a pressured-packed position. The Crimson Tide's last three starters at quarterback (Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones) were all starting in the NFL this season. In his first year as the starter, Young handled the position seemingly with ease. His 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns took Alabama to an SEC title and the national championship game. It was also good enough for Young to become the first quarterback to win the Heisman trophy in Alabama history.
Manning said he wasn’t just impressed with his demeanor, because anyone can be calm and collected, but he was impressed that he was able to do it on the biggest stages and get the results he did.
"That first time out there as a starter this year, that was a big game to him, but he kept his composure almost always throughout the year," Manning said. "So impressive as the games got bigger, and no matter what the circumstance was all the way to the SEC championships, to the playoffs, to and in a national championship game. He’s just very composed, and I think it just shows a lot of confidence that a quarterback has.”
As someone who grew up watching football at all levels, Young said it is an honor to have his name associated with the Manning name on this award. He was also humbled by the compliments from Manning.
"That’s a huge compliment, a huge honor for it to come from the source that it came from," Young said. "To hear that from Archie Manning, knowing who he is, knowing what’s he’s seen and how much he’s experienced, that’s a huge honor.”
The Manning Award was first presented in 2004, but the Manning family has been putting on the Manning Passing Academy for over 25 years. During the Zoom, Manning said the Young was scheduled to be a counselor at last summer's camps before having conflicts with classes and workouts, but he would definitely be invited back this summer.
Young is the second Alabama quarterback in a row to earn the award, joining Mac Jones from last season.
