Livingstone Story—forced out?

[Red Five]

8 minutes ago, NTX_Horn said:

This NIL era is strange.  Turns down 500k to see if he can get more because him or his agent thinks he can get more?  What if he gets 300-400k?  I don’t see OU or Indiana giving him 500k or more.  Banking on himself I guess to see if he has a bigger year as more of a focal point of an offense.

There's probably some ego bruising, if he was told he's not going to be starting next season. Because yeah, turning down that kind of money to play for Texas in what could be a historic year with his roommate Arch doesn't make any sense. 

[horns96]

"My agent said I was worth more" = "things beyond your control" in 2026.   

If only there was any semblance of transparency in this nonsensical system.

 

[NTX_Horn]

4 minutes ago, Red Five said:

There's probably some ego bruising, if he was told he's not going to be starting next season. Because yeah, turning down that kind of money to play for Texas in what could be a historic year with his roommate Arch doesn't make any sense. 

Might be, but there has to be more to this story.  He’s a 4 year guy imho, so to me 500k to be a 3rd or 4th option is a pretty solid deal to me. 

[Michelle Lynn]

1 hour ago, Bobby Burton said:

According to my sources, he was offered a mid six figure deal. He wanted closer to a seven figure deal.

He was absolutely offered a very good sized deal and turned it down. 

To go off & support what Bobby said, Parker signed with Lift Sports Management during the season. Shares agent with Quinn. Anyways, he also started following a few curious people during the season, including OU General Manager Nagy. He has been making business moves behind the scenes all year, thus he should not be surprised when Texas has to make a business decision not to match what he wanted money wise. 
if parker wanted to still be a longhorn, he would be. It’s fine he is moving on, but playing victim? That’s not what happened here.

[Gerry Hamilton]

5 minutes ago, sportsburner96 said:

Wow—and tried to play the sympathy card and make Texas look bad on his way out.

Yep

[dada2396]

7 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

Yep

Etched on the facade of our tower is a statement: "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." We now know the truth, and I have freed myself from my fandom for PL moving forward (unless he doesn't go to OU 😉).

[Kelvin D]

51 minutes ago, Michelle Lynn said:

To go off & support what Bobby said, Parker signed with Lift Sports Management during the season. Shares agent with Quinn. Anyways, he also started following a few curious people during the season, including OU General Manager Nagy. He has been making business moves behind the scenes all year, thus he should not be surprised when Texas has to make a business decision not to match what he wanted money wise. 
if parker wanted to still be a longhorn, he would be. It’s fine he is moving on, but playing victim? That’s not what happened here.

Maybe that explains why he's visiting ou. I expect him to sign with ou and be disappointed next year with Mateer

[Michelle Lynn]

1 minute ago, Kelvin D said:

Maybe that explains why he's visiting ou. I expect him to sign with ou and be disappointed next year with Mateer

Indiana would be a great school for him, I would love to see him sign there. But who knows, since he wanted to go to OU in highschool 🤷‍♀️ He burned all his bridges with Texas with his statement, if he was trying to maintain his and his brothers followers with Texas fans it kind of backfired. It’s a shame. Hope it works out for him. 

[LonghornFan4Ever]

Just now, Michelle Lynn said:

Indiana would be a great school for him, I would love to see him sign there. But who knows, since he wanted to go to OU in highschool 🤷‍♀️ He burned all his bridges with Texas with his statement, if he was trying to maintain his and his brothers followers with Texas fans it kind of backfired. It’s a shame. Hope it works out for him. 

Indiana is the play for sure.  Josh Hoover is a better QB than Mateer and Mike Shanahan is a better OC than Ben Arbuckle.  He has a chance to make a big jump there next season like Omar Cooper Jr., Elijah Sarratt, and Charlie Becker did this season.

[Longhorn Wealth]

Very disappointed that Livingstone opted to throw a BS barb at UT on his way out the door, and clearly with the BS line of it being "out of his control".  Total crap.  I do not wish bad for him, but really sad that he chose to make such a bad decision. 40 year decision. Very poor choice.

[Lavalulu]

6 hours ago, Bobby Burton said:

According to my sources, he was offered a mid six figure deal. He wanted closer to a seven figure deal.

He was absolutely offered a very good sized deal and turned it down. 

Texas took a chance on Livingstone.  I recall during his senior high recruitment, Livingstone sustained a knee injury requiring surgery, which ended his season.  

Fast forward and after some development from Texas, Parker becomes an elite WR catching for Arch—that added much stardust to his public exposure that can’t be denied.

I can’t know what Parker is thinking leaving a Sark/ Arch led Natty-bound 2026 team for more money elsewhere.  Whatever his reasons, I wish him the best.

Hook’em 

[Gerry Hamilton]

3 hours ago, Lavalulu said:

Texas took a chance on Livingstone.  I recall during his senior high recruitment, Livingstone sustained a knee injury requiring surgery, which ended his season.  

Fast forward and after some development from Texas, Parker becomes an elite WR catching for Arch—that added much stardust to his public exposure that can’t be denied.

I can’t know what Parker is thinking leaving a Sark/ Arch led Natty-bound 2026 team for more money elsewhere.  Whatever his reasons, I wish him the best.

Hook’em 

Correct foot injury ended season.

And your are correct on Texas offering him out of high school when a number of other majors didn’t, including Oklahoma who was his favorite school entering the recruiting process

[TexasEx97]

Wow, didn't realize Oklahoma was Parker's preferred team coming out of highschool. 

[ChanmanV]

12 hours ago, Bobby Burton said:

According to my sources, he was offered a mid six figure deal. He wanted closer to a seven figure deal.

He was absolutely offered a very good sized deal and turned it down. 

The drops he had in the Michigan game didn’t help his cause. The WR market is so inflated and Cam Coleman is about to blow up even more.

[harveycmd]

5 hours ago, Lavalulu said:

Texas took a chance on Livingstone.  I recall during his senior high recruitment, Livingstone sustained a knee injury requiring surgery, which ended his season.  

Fast forward and after some development from Texas, Parker becomes an elite WR catching for Arch—that added much stardust to his public exposure that can’t be denied.

I can’t know what Parker is thinking leaving a Sark/ Arch led Natty-bound 2026 team for more money elsewhere.  Whatever his reasons, I wish him the best.

Hook’em 

Livingstone is a good P4 receiver. He ain't worth seven figures. Same for Wisner. These guys are getting bad advice.

[Jarveaux]

Let’s face it some times kid will act like kids. wish him the very best really liked Parker . Hope he is successful in Indiana. That deal was probably done by his representative before he left . But that’s just my opinion.. Happened really fast . In my opinion good judgement wasn’t used in Parker’s decision . But he wasn’t forced out . He fit Texas culture. we all make decisions in our life’s that we later regret. I’m afraid Parker made one . But obviously i could be wrong & obviously i wish Parker much success. 

[Itsamystery]

With his departure, Texas loses a player tied for second in touchdown completions this year.😜

[harveycmd]

26 minutes ago, Jarveaux said:

Let’s face it some times kid will act like kids. wish him the very best really liked Parker . Hope he is successful in Indiana. That deal was probably done by his representative before he left . But that’s just my opinion.. Happened really fast . In my opinion good judgement wasn’t used in Parker’s decision . But he wasn’t forced out . He fit Texas culture. we all make decisions in our life’s that we later regret. I’m afraid Parker made one . But obviously i could be wrong & obviously i wish Parker much success. 

Can't imagine Indiana is paying him what he asked Texas to pay. Cignetti didn't build a high level roster by overpaying. Hope he does well, but seems pretty shortsighted in terms of long term decision.

[Jc Dobbs]

12 hours ago, Waxahorn said:

This new age of college football is hard for me to wrap my head around. When I was at UT the football players got free room, meals, tuition and complimentary tickets from the university. There were probably some $100 handshakes from alums here and there, but nobody was negotiating a bigger payday with the school. I'm all for these guys getting some money for what they do, but walking away from a mid-six figure payday is just crazy imo. Doesn't a degree from the U. of Texas mean anything to them? I guess I'm getting old.

To me, there's a significant "enjoyment of Life" value to spending a year as Arch Manning's buddy and to ride the train looking to improve and play for Championships while being paid reasonably well.

But, if you measure everything in Life by Dollar Signs... you take the money, I suppose.

And I have always heard that the biggest ego on a football team belongs to the WR.

[Jordan91]

3 hours ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

Correct foot injury ended season.

And your are correct on Texas offering him out of high school when a number of other majors didn’t, including Oklahoma who was his favorite school entering the recruiting process

Texas obviously did more than they should have to keep him. Texas stayed focus and moved on. I have as well. 

[Oldest Horn]

12 hours ago, Red Five said:

There's probably some ego bruising, if he was told he's not going to be starting next season. Because yeah, turning down that kind of money to play for Texas in what could be a historic year with his roommate Arch doesn't make any sense. 

 

9 hours ago, Longhorn Wealth said:

Very disappointed that Livingstone opted to throw a BS barb at UT on his way out the door, and clearly with the BS line of it being "out of his control".  Total crap.  I do not wish bad for him, but really sad that he chose to make such a bad decision. 40 year decision. Very poor choice.

Dude thinks he can earn six figures more per year. Is it a 40 year decision when you take a job right out of college that pays you substantially more for doing the same task? Kid wants more money and more reps (which went down significantly when Moseley came back this year). 

[Stevekap]

Business decision by both parties 

[hookem1014]

Typical BS by The Athletic. Posts a story saying he was forced out..follow up comment saying he was given an offer. And of course the original post is the one with the most interactions.

Edited 13 hours ago by hookem1014

[smokeyiii]

I would feel much different about this if Parker didn’t light every bridge on fire on his way out. What more money and playing time? Fair enough. But to act like Texas forced him out or treated him unfairly is a bush league move. Not wising bad things on the kid but pretty disappointing the way he had to disrespect Sark and Texas on his way out. 

Edited 13 hours ago by smokeyiii

[Glass Joe]

2 hours ago, harveycmd said:

Livingstone is a good P4 receiver. He ain't worth seven figures. Same for Wisner. These guys are getting bad advice.

Or they are getting good advice…you’ve maxxed out your value at Texas and you’re looking at a lesser on-field role as Texas upgrades the roster this off-season.  

Since you’re not likely to ever be a high round NFL pick (and certainly not so as a back-up at Texas), NOW is the best time to leave Texas for a bigger NIL paycheck elsewhere and get a better opportunity to show something on-field for NFL scouts.  

This is certainly the best path to maximize both current football earnings, and at least  marginally increase the chance of a post-college paycheck from the NFL.

If either Livingstone or Wisner gets a bigger NIL paycheck elsewhere and more on-field snaps elsewhere, than it was the best financial decision for them.  The only downside is not being a Longhorn graduate for life and the benefits that provides later in life, but football is the immediate issue (not the longer term issue).  This is just business now.

I wish them both well and thank them for their efforts over the past few years.