OutKick Writer Embarrasses Emmanuel Acho Into Deleting Maalik Murphy Tweet, Blocking Her On X

Last week, Emmanuel Acho fired off a scorching hot take. He said that USC quarterback Caleb Williams should sit out the rest of the college football season to protect his NFL Draft status. This weekend, he criticized the effort of Texas QB Maalik Murphy.

There's a problem here. For one quarterback, Williams, Acho argues that he should give zero effort for the remainder of the season. For another quarterback, Murphy, he argues that he needs to give 100% effort at all times.

That's a bit of a mixed message. OutKick writer Amber Harding called out Acho's take on X (formerly known as Twitter).

She wrote, "Guy who encouraged Caleb Williams to quit on his team altogether is now berating Maalik Murphy for not showing enough effort after an interception."

The tweet blew up, garnering nearly 6,000 "likes" on the platform.

What did Emmauel Acho tweet, exactly? Unfortunately, we don't have the exact post. Why? Because he deleted it thanks to Harding's call-out.

Although Acho deleted the original post, he did try to defend his position prior to that.

Not only did he delete the post, but he BLOCKED Harding on X.

Emmanuel Acho deletes post and blocks OutKick writer for calling out his Maalik Murphy take

OK, a lot to unpack here.

First, Harding is right to call out Acho's double-standard. Plus, how many times have we heard commentators talk about quarterbacks NOT trying to make a play after an interception. They potentially put themselves in harm's way, where an injury would be much worse for the team than the tackle would provide value. Not saying that's correct, but it is a valid opinion.

Because of that, Acho's criticism of Murphy isn't completely unfounded. It's fair to question the effort of an athlete. The problem is that by saying Caleb Williams should literally quit college football, it's hard to take an opinion seriously questioning the effort of another QB.

Harding's commentary wasn't really about Murphy or Williams, just that Acho displayed some clear hypocrisy here. She did so in a perfectly professional manner and did not name-call Acho or otherwise disrespect him.

Really, all she did was point out the facts. But, Acho decided he needed to shield himself from completely valid criticism by blocking her on X.

OutKick writer Amber Harding called out a hypocritical take from Emmanuel Acho (pictured) on Texas QB Maalik Murphy, and Acho blocked her on X. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

That's an extremely weak move on his part. So is deleting the tweet. Acho brands himself as the guy who has "uncomfortable conversations." Yet, instead of having an "uncomfortable conversation" with Harding over his hypocritical take, he completely took himself out of the conversation.

Seeing a pattern of hypocrisy here?

OutKick reached out to Emmanuel Acho for comment. We will report if we hear back.

Acho initially tried to defend his position in the comments, claiming that Williams and Murphy are in different situations. Which is technically true.

But, as Harding told me, Acho's position boiled down to: "You should give your all for your team! Unless you think you're better than everybody, in which case you should definitely quit as soon as things don't go your way."

Acho considers himself someone who "speaks truth to power."

But, really, he's just another "do as I say, not as I do" peddler.