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A bet, a realization and sharing the limelight: Michael Taaffe has his own place as No. 16 for the Texas Longhorns

by: Evan Vieth07/19/25
Michael Taaffe
Michael Taaffe (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

For all of Michael Taaffe’s football career, he’s been overlooked.

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Even as a state champion safety for one of Austin’s most prestigious high school football programs, the Westlake product received just two college offers, both from Ivy League schools that participate in the FCS.

Instead of choosing that route, or even walking on at Rice, his original plan, Taaffe decided to walk on at a sleeping giant: the Steve Sarkisian-led Texas Longhorns.

But even while being a player for the Longhorns, donning that athlete backpack and eating at The TANC, Taaffe continued to just be a minute detail in a large scale of football.

“This is the first year where I’ve had people say I’m really good,” Taaffe said at SEC Media Days. “Because all my life it’s just been, ‘Oh, it’s just him. It’s the white walk-on that isn’t very fast, isn’t very big.’ I’ve always had to handle proving people wrong.”

Taaffe’s quote led into a discussion about the other No. 16 at the University of Texas: Arch Manning. From the first time he posted his commitment graphic in June of 2022 to his first-ever touchdown against Colorado State last season, Manning has been THE No. 16 at Texas.

“He takes it all in; he doesn’t tune all of it out,” Taaffe said about Manning. “He knows, he remembers what people say about him. He handles it like he’s the most normal person in the world.”

At Texas’ recent Fan Day, the replacement for the spring game, Taaffe found himself sitting in the autograph line next to Parker Livingstone, the redshirt freshman receiver who has been close with both Manning and Taaffe since coming to campus last year.

Taaffe made a bet with the youngster: I give you $2 for every Arch Manning jersey you see; you give me $100 for every Taaffe jersey. Fantastic odds for the overlooked walk-on, but one you’d expect him to lose. How many people buy Michael Taaffe jerseys?

Well, the answer is just enough.

“I beat him—that’s my claim to fame,” Taaffe said. “I think there were four Taaffe jerseys. It was close, so you can tell how many Arch Manning jerseys there were.”

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That ratio may have been four Taaffes to 190 Mannings, but it’s obvious that Taaffe took something from that. He’s no longer just the white walk-on battling it out for that spot on a two-deep. He is a preseason All-SEC first-teamer and one of the most revered defensive backs in all of college football.

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