A left tackle in college football can now earn more than his NFL counterparts. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
Tennessee Titans left tackle Dan Moore can list all the sponsorship deals he has done as a pro on one hand: a few meet and greet opportunities when he was with the Steelers, and a grill company that gave him some barbecue tools in exchange for his endorsement.
Million-dollar deals? No such thing, especially for someone playing his position. If he were in college — a talented offensive lineman with a chance to make his team a national contender — that might be different.
“It’s only been five years since NIL started,” said Moore, who heads into his sixth year in the NFL this season. “Another five years, and we could see college football becoming semi-pro.”
And that, in short, is the not-so-hidden secret driving a new era in college sports. It is a business rebuilt to allow players to cash in on their name, image and likeness fame, one that pays exorbitant prices to athletes under the guise that the money isn’t a salary, but rather a payment for services the athletes provide through sponsorship deals.
That’s the way many of the headline-grabbing six- and seven-figure payments that go to college players for so-called “third party NIL” can truly comport with the NCAA rulebook. And that rulebook — for all its rapid changes in recent years — refuses to do away with the fading notion that college athletes aren’t pros who can be paid merely to show up and play.
NC State enters Year 14 under Dave Doeren knowing it has a strength in returning QB CJ Bailey. Virginia’s mission is ‘handling success’ after unexpected jump to 11 wins, trip to ACC title game. No. 24 Louisville and its coach want more.