From Franchise QB to NIL Fugitive: The Nico Story (1 Viewer)

[osubuckeyeman]

Why shouldn’t other schools offer more NIL to players at other schools? Isn’t the intent of NIL to ensure that these athletes can make market value earnings for their name, image, and likeness while in school? If another school can/will offer more, why is that out of bounds?

It is not out of bounds. That is my point. But if it is okay for schools to do that, then why the backlash for holding out for more money if you want to?

If schools can approach players at other schools while they are still attending that school, why is it a big deal for a player to do the exact same thing?

 

[osubuckeyeman]

To add, if another school really was offering Nico $4M then he’d have been in the portal and long gone from Tennessee. And nobody would be “blasting him” for transferring to make an addition $2M per year.

Instead, it appears he badly misplayed his hand, possibly posturing that he could get more NIL elsewhere, and Tennessee told him they wanted no part of that game. People are blasting him because he clearly failed to assess the reality of his worth to UT, and now he not only looks a bit like a selfish a s s, but might very well get less NIL money in the process.

They are not blasting him for misplaying his hand. They are blasting him for holding out for more money.

 

[Joe Bryant]

To add, if another school really was offering Nico $4M then he’d have been in the portal and long gone from Tennessee. And nobody would be “blasting him” for transferring to make an addition $2M per year.

Instead, it appears he badly misplayed his hand, possibly posturing that he could get more NIL elsewhere, and Tennessee told him they wanted no part of that game. People are blasting him because he clearly failed to assess the reality of his worth to UT, and now he not only looks a bit like a selfish a s s, but might very well get less NIL money in the process.

They are not blasting him for misplaying his hand. They are blasting him for holding out for more money.

Again, I guess some are upset. And there's no shortage of people on the internet looking to be offended. Especially on social media.

But I live in Knoxville and everyone I know is

Yes, UT fans would have preferred he played much better AND stayed here for the contract he agreed to.

But he has the right to renegotiate. And UT has the right to say no thanks. Which they did.

I'm sure some people somewhere are upset, but I don't see it in real life and it's right here for me. So I don't really get the "blasting".

 

[Joe Bryant]

And it's yet to be seen if he misplayed his hand or not. He might get 4 million from a school. We haven't seen that yet.

But for the fans, that's part of the interest. It's interesting for a player to turn down 2 million in hopes he can get more. That's easy to see why people are interested.

 

[Joe Bryant]

It's been interesting to me to see people act as if this is new. It got attention because it's a high profile player. But I have friends connected to our NIL program and this kind of thing is not uncommon. It just usually doesn't make headlines when it's a backup linebacker that wants a new deal.

 

[Jayded]

NIL was not supposed to be the school paying for a player, but their ability to market their NIL locally. Appearing on local commercials for the local food joints, car dealerships, and local lawyers or participating in games like CFB 25 was the idea.

That it is starting to obviously and brazenly get closer to donors at the school paying for play and not for NIL, that is what this might really tug hard on finally being adjudicated with boundaries. It could mean the players finally become employees of the schools or it could mean these pay for play things go away and the players would suffer or get into trouble for nefarious obtaining of it via the old fashioned way pre-limits and/or bag men.

 

[Chaka]

Instead, it appears he badly misplayed his hand, possibly posturing that he could get more NIL elsewhere,

That's definitely a possibility and it's the risk he took. It will be interesting to se.if he even gets back to the $2.4 mil he left on the table.

 

[SayWhat?]

They are not blasting him for misplaying his hand. They are blasting him for holding out for more money.

I think this is semantics. He held out for more money, and clearly (at least as we stand today) didn’t have a very good read on his situation. That decision not only resulted in him not getting more money, but losing the NIL deal he had in hand.

So yeah, people are blasting him for holding out because it looks like a terrible decision at present. If Tennessee had said, “yep, we love you so here’s your $4M” then this would essentially be a non-story.

 

[osubuckeyeman]

They are not blasting him for misplaying his hand. They are blasting him for holding out for more money.

I think this is semantics. He held out for more money, and clearly (at least as we stand today) didn’t have a very good read on his situation. That decision not only resulted in him not getting more money, but losing the NIL deal he had in hand.

So yeah, people are blasting him for holding out because it looks like a terrible decision at present. If Tennessee had said, “yep, we love you so here’s your $4M” then this would essentially be a non-story.

Yeah, we are talking about a totally different topic. Yes, he may have outplayed his hand, and I see that again as no big deal, but it's not what I was discussing. You are correct; articles and people are talking about that as well. I was not addressing that topic, though.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

NIL was not supposed to be the school paying for a player, but their ability to market their NIL locally. Appearing on local commercials for the local food joints, car dealerships, and local lawyers or participating in games like CFB 25 was the idea.

That it is starting to obviously and brazenly get closer to donors at the school paying for play and not for NIL, that is what this might really tug hard on finally being adjudicated with boundaries. It could mean the players finally become employees of the schools or it could mean these pay for play things go away and the players would suffer or get into trouble for nefarious obtaining of it via the old fashioned way pre-limits and/or bag men.

I think you’re being very generous to the status quo here. These contracts have always been obvious pay-to-play agreements despite the strict prohibition against that. A gymnast at LSU or Bronny James making $10m a year in college are examples of real brand marketing NIL revenue. Other than those extreme outliers, these kids are not being paid to sell cars or shoes. Even under the proposed House settlement, pay-to-play is still comically prohibited and they’re absolutely refusing to go down the employer/ employee path.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

There are articles and podcasts, and everyone, including myself, has an opinion. Schools are attempting to get (poach) star players for more NIL money, and no one blinks an eye. I find that weird.

Can you elaborate on what you find weird? That no one blinks an eye?

I do not see any conversations about schools approaching other players on other teams and trying to have them come to their school for more NIL money. There are no articles about it, no podcasts, or fan outrage. The story blew up, and it makes sense that people on national media would start talking about it because the story did blow up. However, let's start talking about how wrong it is for schools to approach star players at other schools and offer them more NIL money to come to their school. Multiple schools approached Jeremiah Smith to leave Ohio State for more NIL money. There was no outrage, even by Ohio State fans who mostly were savoring the most recent "Natty". I can speculate on a few other star players that just happened to end up at different schools for no apparent reason more than NIL dollars, but since I do not know for a fact, I won't mention them, but I could, and we all can, including at Ohio State.

Do not get me wrong; the kids should make as much money as possible with the current rules in place. Many articles blast Nico for holding out and asking for more money. I have read that he is not the only kid in a group who wanted more money to play in playoff games. Now, Nico has held out to negotiate a better deal, but UT said no, and they parted ways. This seems like no big deal to me. You also have coaches coming out against what Nico did, like Mario Cristobal saying they can get out if they want to play that game, meaning do not try to play the holdout game here at Miami. I would love to ask Mario whether Miami has ever offered a player at another school a better NIL deal to play for the Hurricanes.

I do not know Nico and do not care about his motives for wanting to get paid more money by a school to play football. It is an open market, but if people are going to blast the kid for that decision, these same people should blast the schools offering better NIL deals to players still at their current schools.

One recent example is Xavier Lucas, who broke his contract at Wisconsin to go to Miami a couple of months ago. Wisconsin refused to put Lucas into the portal, claiming he had a binding contract. It was a bad look for the Badgers. Lucas and Miami called their bluff and registered him as a student and member of the football team without bothering with the portal. In response, the NCAA has essentially conceded that the portal is just a matter of convenience and players don’t actually have to use it to transfer. They know it’s all smoke and mirrors that would never hold water in court.

Another example of the other side of the coin involving Wisconsin was the case of Carter Smith, who committed to play quarterback for Michigan as a junior in high school in the fall of 2023. He was on a visit to Ann Arbor last fall, watching a game with his family at the Big House, when he learned Michigan had lured Bryce Underwood from LSU with a $10m NIL package. They’re both class of 2025. Of course he knew that could happen but as you say it’s not a story that gets much interest in the press. Smith decommitted a week or so later and transferred to Madison.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I wonder if anyone ever thought that paying student athletes might be a bad idea

 

[CletiusMaximus]

I wonder if anyone ever thought that paying student athletes might be a bad idea

There’s a place where sports are not associated with educational institutions whatsoever, other than club and intramural type competitions. That place is known as “everywhere else in the world outside the US.”

 

[Snotbubbles]

There are articles and podcasts, and everyone, including myself, has an opinion. Schools are attempting to get (poach) star players for more NIL money, and no one blinks an eye. I find that weird.

Can you elaborate on what you find weird? That no one blinks an eye?

I do not see any conversations about schools approaching other players on other teams and trying to have them come to their school for more NIL money. There are no articles about it, no podcasts, or fan outrage. The story blew up, and it makes sense that people on national media would start talking about it because the story did blow up. However, let's start talking about how wrong it is for schools to approach star players at other schools and offer them more NIL money to come to their school. Multiple schools approached Jeremiah Smith to leave Ohio State for more NIL money. There was no outrage, even by Ohio State fans who mostly were savoring the most recent "Natty". I can speculate on a few other star players that just happened to end up at different schools for no apparent reason more than NIL dollars, but since I do not know for a fact, I won't mention them, but I could, and we all can, including at Ohio State.

Do not get me wrong; the kids should make as much money as possible with the current rules in place. Many articles blast Nico for holding out and asking for more money. I have read that he is not the only kid in a group who wanted more money to play in playoff games. Now, Nico has held out to negotiate a better deal, but UT said no, and they parted ways. This seems like no big deal to me. You also have coaches coming out against what Nico did, like Mario Cristobal saying they can get out if they want to play that game, meaning do not try to play the holdout game here at Miami. I would love to ask Mario whether Miami has ever offered a player at another school a better NIL deal to play for the Hurricanes.

I do not know Nico and do not care about his motives for wanting to get paid more money by a school to play football. It is an open market, but if people are going to blast the kid for that decision, these same people should blast the schools offering better NIL deals to players still at their current schools.

One recent example is Xavier Lucas, who broke his contract at Wisconsin to go to Miami a couple of months ago. Wisconsin refused to put Lucas into the portal, claiming he had a binding contract. It was a bad look for the Badgers. Lucas and Miami called their bluff and registered him as a student and member of the football team without bothering with the portal. In response, the NCAA has essentially conceded that the portal is just a matter of convenience and players don’t actually have to use it to transfer. They know it’s all smoke and mirrors that would never hold water in court.

Another example of the other side of the coin involving Wisconsin was the case of Carter Smith, who committed to play quarterback for Michigan as a junior in high school in the fall of 2023. He was on a visit to Ann Arbor last fall, watching a game with his family at the Big House, when he learned Michigan had lured Bryce Underwood from LSU with a $10m NIL package. They’re both class of 2025. Of course he knew that could happen but as you say it’s not a story that gets much interest in the press. Smith decommitted a week or so later and transferred to Madison.

How about that kid from UNLV who just quit in the middle of the season over an NIL dispute.

 

[Soulfly3]

future generations of ncaa players will look back at this kid and blame him for ruining their earning potential.
i havet to assume rules/laws come from this, due to profile.

and hopefully it happens AFTER he earns half of what he would have if he stayed put.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

There are articles and podcasts, and everyone, including myself, has an opinion. Schools are attempting to get (poach) star players for more NIL money, and no one blinks an eye. I find that weird.

Can you elaborate on what you find weird? That no one blinks an eye?

I do not see any conversations about schools approaching other players on other teams and trying to have them come to their school for more NIL money. There are no articles about it, no podcasts, or fan outrage. The story blew up, and it makes sense that people on national media would start talking about it because the story did blow up. However, let's start talking about how wrong it is for schools to approach star players at other schools and offer them more NIL money to come to their school. Multiple schools approached Jeremiah Smith to leave Ohio State for more NIL money. There was no outrage, even by Ohio State fans who mostly were savoring the most recent "Natty". I can speculate on a few other star players that just happened to end up at different schools for no apparent reason more than NIL dollars, but since I do not know for a fact, I won't mention them, but I could, and we all can, including at Ohio State.

Do not get me wrong; the kids should make as much money as possible with the current rules in place. Many articles blast Nico for holding out and asking for more money. I have read that he is not the only kid in a group who wanted more money to play in playoff games. Now, Nico has held out to negotiate a better deal, but UT said no, and they parted ways. This seems like no big deal to me. You also have coaches coming out against what Nico did, like Mario Cristobal saying they can get out if they want to play that game, meaning do not try to play the holdout game here at Miami. I would love to ask Mario whether Miami has ever offered a player at another school a better NIL deal to play for the Hurricanes.

I do not know Nico and do not care about his motives for wanting to get paid more money by a school to play football. It is an open market, but if people are going to blast the kid for that decision, these same people should blast the schools offering better NIL deals to players still at their current schools.

One recent example is Xavier Lucas, who broke his contract at Wisconsin to go to Miami a couple of months ago. Wisconsin refused to put Lucas into the portal, claiming he had a binding contract. It was a bad look for the Badgers. Lucas and Miami called their bluff and registered him as a student and member of the football team without bothering with the portal. In response, the NCAA has essentially conceded that the portal is just a matter of convenience and players don’t actually have to use it to transfer. They know it’s all smoke and mirrors that would never hold water in court.

Another example of the other side of the coin involving Wisconsin was the case of Carter Smith, who committed to play quarterback for Michigan as a junior in high school in the fall of 2023. He was on a visit to Ann Arbor last fall, watching a game with his family at the Big House, when he learned Michigan had lured Bryce Underwood from LSU with a $10m NIL package. They’re both class of 2025. Of course he knew that could happen but as you say it’s not a story that gets much interest in the press. Smith decommitted a week or so later and transferred to Madison.

How about that kid from UNLV who just quit in the middle of the season over an NIL dispute.

That was a terrible situation that never should happen again but likely will. Sluka made the mistake of relying on an oral promise from an assistant coach regarding his NIL comp. Three games into the season he still hadn’t been paid. He tried to negotiate something but UNLV apparently didn’t have the ability to pay him so he had no choice. Right now everything is in limbo while they wait for the House settlement to be approved. The contracts they are using are ad hoc forms with no standard structure like normal professional leagues have. That was the big problem with Xavier Lucas’ situation- his contract was completely unenforceable. I’m sure they will develop some forms and guidelines once the settlement is in place but with no CBA or other protections, these kids are relying entirely on whomever is advising them and just putting their trust and faith in the schools or collectives. It’s not going to last.

 

[RC94]

I heard Joel Klatt say on First Thing First that this isn't just about money. He wasn't happy with the offense and it's lack of growth.

 

[JAA]

Professional athletes hold out for more money all the time. What is the issue here?

 

[CGRdrJoe]

future generations of ncaa players will look back at this kid and blame him for ruining their earning potential.
i havet to assume rules/laws come from this, due to profile.

and hopefully it happens AFTER he earns half of what he would have if he stayed put.

what a bitter *** post

 

[Soulfly3]

future generations of ncaa players will look back at this kid and blame him for ruining their earning potential.
i havet to assume rules/laws come from this, due to profile.

and hopefully it happens AFTER he earns half of what he would have if he stayed put.

what a bitter *** post

Is it? Im sympathizing w future players probably losing more earning potential because of this guy thinking he's worth more than he is.

There will be a domino effect from this. There has to be. It's basically lawless out there

 

[Snotbubbles]

Professional athletes hold out for more money all the time. What is the issue here?

They're not allowed to negotiate with other teams while doing it.

 

[massraider]

Is it? Im sympathizing w future players probably losing more earning potential because of this guy thinking he's worth more than he is.

There will be a domino effect from this. There has to be. It's basically lawless out there

They aren't changing American antitrust laws because of one college QB.

It's lawless because the NCAA won't make them employees, so they are all just students. Free to get money from whoever they can, like any other college student.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Professional athletes hold out for more money all the time. What is the issue here?

They're not allowed to negotiate with other teams while doing it.

I think the main difference is in every other situation in the world involving a professional sports club, the athletes are operating under a professional services contract and, in most cases in the US, a CBA. The main problem here is the NCAA desperately and selfishly clinging to the charade of college amateurism.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

future generations of ncaa players will look back at this kid and blame him for ruining their earning potential.
i havet to assume rules/laws come from this, due to profile.

and hopefully it happens AFTER he earns half of what he would have if he stayed put.

what a bitter *** post

Is it? Im sympathizing w future players probably losing more earning potential because of this guy thinking he's worth more than he is.

There will be a domino effect from this. There has to be. It's basically lawless out there

It seems equally possible he's breaking down barriers that will benefit future college athletes. The same as Ed O'Bannon did 15 years ago that started the ball rolling. Not to say that is this guys's goal or intent. He's definitely handling the situation poorly and desperately needs better representation. Agree there is a lawlessness currently that is causing these problems and I'm far from confident the current proposed settlement will fix anything.

 

[massraider]

By the way, the endorsement market for athletes is the same as well. Athletes can sign with a shoe brand, and then sign with another shoe brand.

LAWLESSNESS!!! WILD WEST!!! DONE GONE CRAZY WILD OUT THERE!!!!!

lol

 

[Joe Bryant]

https://x.com/CJMordock/status/1912218919147896886

Tulane put together an impressive offer. But too much back and forth between Nico’s camp and the coaching staff. Tulane wanted to get a deal done quickly. The Dad is Lavar Ball without the charm.

 

[Joe Bryant]

https://x.com/BootKreweMedia/status/1912294002860114428

(Tulane HC) Jon Sumrall just a couple of months ago on the @JoshPateCFB show: “If the first question is, ‘What’s that pay?’ Do you love what football can do for you, or do you love football?”

I know it's not cool to talk about prioritizing a love of football first. We all know the main thing is players getting paid the maximum amount possible, but thought this was interesting.

 

[Joe Bryant]

And still, all this remains to be seen how it settles. It just takes one school.

 

[Uncle Leo]

UCLA

 

[Uncle Leo]

Report: Nico Iamaleava destination revealed by Colin Cowherd

.

www.on3.com

 

[Joe Bryant]

Cowherd Post

https://x.com/colincowherd/status/1912594170008727615

I am told — moments ago — Nico Iamaleava is going to UCLA. Family still claims it’s NOT about the It’s about the
@Vol_Football
offense. I was not told what the Bruins are paying.

Good for him. I bet he'll do well there.

 

[Instinctive]

By the way, the endorsement market for athletes is the same as well. Athletes can sign with a shoe brand, and then sign with another shoe brand.

LAWLESSNESS!!! WILD WEST!!! DONE GONE CRAZY WILD OUT THERE!!!!!

lol

To be fair, most of those are real contracts with intelligent lawyers on at least one side and liquidated damages clauses.

The "lawlessness" to me, as a lawyer, is that contracts do tend to mean something. In the NFL, which has a CBA and such, you can hold out, but you can't just break your contract and go play for another team.

In a shoe deal, you can stop being a Nike athlete and go to Adidas, but you bet your *** you owe Nike some money when you do (which you're free to work with Adidas to get them to pay).

Even closer - a college basketball coach can break his contract to go from, Arkansas to go elsewhere, but if he does so there's a $6M buyout. And an NBA team can fire Frank Vogel, but aside from any offset he gets at another job covered by the offset, they gotta pay him still.

 

[JAA]

Professional athletes hold out for more money all the time. What is the issue here?

They're not allowed to negotiate with other teams while doing it.

Thats not true for all sports. It is true for collectively bargained/unionized sports.

Also, coaches do this all the time while they are under contract. Are we also outraged at coaches?

 

[JAA]

https://x.com/BootKreweMedia/status/1912294002860114428

(Tulane HC) Jon Sumrall just a couple of months ago on the @JoshPateCFB show: “If the first question is, ‘What’s that pay?’ Do you love what football can do for you, or do you love football?”

I know it's not cool to talk about prioritizing a love of football first. We all know the main thing is players getting paid the maximum amount possible, but thought this was interesting.

What is interesting about it?

 

[massraider]

Even closer - a college basketball coach can break his contract to go from, Arkansas to go elsewhere, but if he does so there's a $6M buyout. And an NBA team can fire Frank Vogel, but aside from any offset he gets at another job covered by the offset, they gotta pay him still

That's a contract ad am employee. Students aren't employees.

I dunno what endorsement contracts these players agree to for NIL, but I haven't seen any schools trying to claw back money when a kid goes pro.

That seems like more of an apples to apples comp

 

[JAA]

Even closer - a college basketball coach can break his contract to go from, Arkansas to go elsewhere, but if he does so there's a $6M buyout. And an NBA team can fire Frank Vogel, but aside from any offset he gets at another job covered by the offset, they gotta pay him still

That's a contract ad am employee. Students aren't employees.

I dunno what endorsement contracts these players agree to for NIL, but I haven't seen any schools trying to claw back money when a kid goes pro.

That seems like more of an apples to apples comp

Well, I think its fair to say students /should be/ employees, but alas.

 

[massraider]

Decades and decades of thousands of kids getting screwed, and we've had about 3 years of kids controlling their own destiny.

I'm simply not working up any sympathy for the schools. The free market will determine their worth.

 

[osubuckeyeman]

That was quick. Big Ten bound and coming to Neyland North next fall.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Interesting on the UT offense...

https://x.com/ClosetVol/status/1912618317619294385

 

[Joe Bryant]

I'm simply not working up any sympathy for the schools. The free market will determine their worth.

Fans might be disappointed if they lose a player who would help. But I'm not sure many feel sympathy for the schools. It's purely business.

 

[Instinctive]

Even closer - a college basketball coach can break his contract to go from, Arkansas to go elsewhere, but if he does so there's a $6M buyout. And an NBA team can fire Frank Vogel, but aside from any offset he gets at another job covered by the offset, they gotta pay him still

That's a contract ad am employee. Students aren't employees.

I dunno what endorsement contracts these players agree to for NIL, but I haven't seen any schools trying to claw back money when a kid goes pro.

That seems like more of an apples to apples comp

I mean in the exact same post i have a comp about shoes deals, which are endorsement contracts. Why did you focus in only on the part you disagreed with?


ETA: a contract is a contract. I don't see what being an employee has to do with anything. From a legal perspective. As a lawyer.

 

[sm8680]

Ok please help me here. Last season UT offense was far superior to UCLA. Joe just showed a link that features Nico misses. This was all about the Benjamins. Not about the offense.

 

[Joe Bryant]

https://x.com/BootKreweMedia/status/1912294002860114428

(Tulane HC) Jon Sumrall just a couple of months ago on the @JoshPateCFB show: “If the first question is, ‘What’s that pay?’ Do you love what football can do for you, or do you love football?”

I know it's not cool to talk about prioritizing a love of football first. We all know the main thing is players getting paid the maximum amount possible, but thought this was interesting.

What is interesting about it?

That Iamaleava was potentially going to Tulane and the coach at Tulane seemed to have the opposite point of view. Unless of course you believe that it's not about the money.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Ok please help me here. Last season UT offense was far superior to UCLA. Joe just showed a link that features Nico misses. This was all about the Benjamins. Not about the offense.

Blasphemer

They said money was not an issue. It's all about the UT offense.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Professional athletes hold out for more money all the time. What is the issue here?

They're not allowed to negotiate with other teams while doing it.

Thats not true for all sports. It is true for collectively bargained/unionized sports.

Also, coaches do this all the time while they are under contract. Are we also outraged at coaches?

Which sports don't have a collective bargaining agreement? NBA, yes. NHL, yes. MLB, yes. NFL, yes. MLS, yes. WNBA, yes.

EDIT: The NFL has anti-tampering rules that prohibit teams from negotiating with coaches without the permission of the current team. Teams usually allow coaches to negotiate/interview with other teams if the job is a promotion. Either way, the team in which the coach is under contract needs to grant permission.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Even closer - a college basketball coach can break his contract to go from, Arkansas to go elsewhere, but if he does so there's a $6M buyout. And an NBA team can fire Frank Vogel, but aside from any offset he gets at another job covered by the offset, they gotta pay him still

That's a contract ad am employee. Students aren't employees.

I dunno what endorsement contracts these players agree to for NIL, but I haven't seen any schools trying to claw back money when a kid goes pro.

That seems like more of an apples to apples comp

I mean in the exact same post i have a comp about shoes deals, which are endorsement contracts. Why did you focus in only on the part you disagreed with?


ETA: a contract is a contract. I don't see what being an employee has to do with anything. From a legal perspective. As a lawyer.

I've not seen a full, executed NIL contract for a player but have seen excerpts that purpoted to be from real contracts. The difficulty is they are prohibited from being pay-to-play, but that's obviously the intent. So there is some confusion, particularly where the player doesn't have good representation. For example, I've seen one that purports to reduce the pay if a player is injured, which seems obviously unenforceable. In the case of Xavier Lucas, the official statement from Wisconsin indicated he had one year left on a two year NIL contract with the school and also had a separate contract with a collective. They threatened legal action but so far it's been radio silence. I guess the point is that while I don't disagree necessarily with your comment, these contracts don't appear to be as ironclad and enforceable as a normal professional contract. I would love to see a school try to enforce this in litigation. Since it's not pay-to-play, could the player not theoretically perform his marketing obligations as required even though he's playing football for a different school? There's no way for us to know but I think the lack of any enforcement lawsuits or really any reporting on settlements or buyouts is telling for me.

 

[massraider]

I think a lot less people are bothered about player movement than two years ago. Clearly, more people understand.

But there clearly are a lot of people feeling some sort of way. And if it comes out that he wound up with a lesser deal than he had, football social media is going to explode with joyful Shadenfreude memes. You can count on it.

 

[sm8680]

I think a lot less people are bothered about player movement than two years ago. Clearly, more people understand.

But there clearly are a lot of people feeling some sort of way. And if it comes out that he wound up with a lesser deal than he had, football social media is going to explode with joyful Shadenfreude memes. You can count on it.

This article mentions that he could have taken a paycut.

 

[Instinctive]

Even closer - a college basketball coach can break his contract to go from, Arkansas to go elsewhere, but if he does so there's a $6M buyout. And an NBA team can fire Frank Vogel, but aside from any offset he gets at another job covered by the offset, they gotta pay him still

That's a contract ad am employee. Students aren't employees.

I dunno what endorsement contracts these players agree to for NIL, but I haven't seen any schools trying to claw back money when a kid goes pro.

That seems like more of an apples to apples comp

I mean in the exact same post i have a comp about shoes deals, which are endorsement contracts. Why did you focus in only on the part you disagreed with?


ETA: a contract is a contract. I don't see what being an employee has to do with anything. From a legal perspective. As a lawyer.

I've not seen a full, executed NIL contract for a player but have seen excerpts that purpoted to be from real contracts. The difficulty is they are prohibited from being pay-to-play, but that's obviously the intent. So there is some confusion, particularly where the player doesn't have good representation. For example, I've seen one that purports to reduce the pay if a player is injured, which seems obviously unenforceable. In the case of Xavier Lucas, the official statement from Wisconsin indicated he had one year left on a two year NIL contract with the school and also had a separate contract with a collective. They threatened legal action but so far it's been radio silence. I guess the point is that while I don't disagree necessarily with your comment, these contracts don't appear to be as ironclad and enforceable as a normal professional contract. I would love to see a school try to enforce this in litigation. Since it's not pay-to-play, could the player not theoretically perform his marketing obligations as required even though he's playing football for a different school? There's no way for us to know but I think the lack of any enforcement lawsuits or really any reporting on settlements or buyouts is telling for me.

Yeah i think the contracts are crap. Sorry if i wasn't clear - my overarching point throughout the thread is that good and normal contracts are the way to have a system resembling something less than chaos. I'd like to see a school be like "hey NCAA **** you, we're paying this guy to play."

 

[JAA]

https://x.com/BootKreweMedia/status/1912294002860114428

(Tulane HC) Jon Sumrall just a couple of months ago on the @JoshPateCFB show: “If the first question is, ‘What’s that pay?’ Do you love what football can do for you, or do you love football?”

I know it's not cool to talk about prioritizing a love of football first. We all know the main thing is players getting paid the maximum amount possible, but thought this was interesting.

What is interesting about it?

That Iamaleava was potentially going to Tulane and the coach at Tulane seemed to have the opposite point of view. Unless of course you believe that it's not about the money.

I get the facts, but I do not get what was significant/novel about someone doing what they believe is in their and their families best interest.

Where I am going with this, lots of professionals, including athletes, make decisions which they believe are in their best interest. We never really question coaches and ADs, nor do we really question our friends and families when they change jobs. However, we seem to be all caught up on college athletes and the decisions they make. Why so much attention to a pretty basic decision process that just about every American goes through at one point in their life.

That is why I asked what was interesting about it.