The Fruit of The NIL Tree
CJ Stroud just inked a deal where he'll have the opportunity to drive a different ultra luxury car every 2 months. His first choice... Mercedes Benz G Wagon.
The floor is yours... literally!
https://nypost.com/2022/06/08/ohio-state-qb-c-j-stroud-driving-200k-mercedes-in-nil-deal/
Terrelle Pryor did the same thing. Just off the books
... and like Terrelle the NIL contract was inked in free tattoos.
CJ will drive everywhere in Columbus except campus.
Doesn't build character though. If he wants a transformational experience™ deal, you can only get those at Michigan.
That’s nothing, the guys on full ride on ESPNU radio are talking about another dude (didn’t catch the name) that’s driving a Bentley SUV and has the option to change every 45 days…and it’s not a dealer it’s an “auto gallery” that deals in exotics.
rick neuheisel was telling stories that he had to suspend 16 players for making long distance telephone calls home from coaches offices.
I mean, RN (gasp, an abbreviation) has a bit of a checkered past and isn’t a very nice dude, but in the context of current stay of play (pay?) that’s pretty funny.
When he loses again this fall to Michigan he'll be demoted down to a Saturn Ion.
He needs something that handles well in the snow or he will have troubles.
+1 underrated
Also needs auto-drive in case of a sudden attack of the flu.
Pontiac Aztek is good for ice.
I heard that gets 42 highway and 27 city
Man, this thread is filled with good comments but this one takes the cake.
Sure, drive a nice vehicle, but you still have to drive it in Columbus...
It is honestly smart. If the rules allow it, he can't be blamed for doing it.
and to think...... Aiden Hutchinson was a 1st round pick and all he got to drive was stroud's ass into the turf.
That's it. Thread closed.
You win the internet today, my friend.
Shut it down. We have a winner.
Last one out, get the lights....
did not upvote to maintain the 42 Up.
And yet it took Michigan a year before they allowed athletes to use the Block M
What does an OSU QB driving a dealer's cars have to do with whether an athlete can use the Block M?
Two entirely different scenarios and set of circumstances.
Evidently you've never experienced the Goblin's take.
not sure the specifics there however its clear one school takes football extremely seriously while the other often works around their own unforced errors
They allowed them use the Block M provided the school's licensing department approved it. That seemed to be the general process at most schools, only some were more willing to let their marks used in that way than others. But I do understand UM's reticence of giving a bunch of college kids looking to make money unilateral authority to utilize a highly-valuable mark owned by UM.
Keep in mind that "highly valuable mark" derives a huge portion of it's VALUE because of the exploits of our athletes, not because of our great English department. This is administration blah, blah, blah....
While that's true, that shouldn't give the athlete the ability to transfer the use of the Block M to whomever they please.
Sure, but as I noted above that mark absolutely does have value outside of an individual athlete's contribution to the sport and it would be very easy for some undesirable party to get around having to deal with actual compliance concerns by using an athlete who may not fully understand what's going on.
There's no clear-and-fast rules with licensing and it's why I do think there needs to be nationalized rules to make it clearer. But here's an example - imagine Hunter Dickinson wanted to use the Block M to promote some higher-level brand like Ford or Sierra Brooks wants to promote Athleta, but then some backup 3rd baseman got a "sponsorship" deal from a strip joint or weed dispensary. There's a non-zero chance that Ford or Athleta (and/or a lot of alums and current students) would come back to UM and say "we can't sponsor athletes from your school if we see the Block M being associated with these strip joints and weed shops", and so then you're stuck breaking someone's contract or dealing with reduced access to sponsorship.
Has that happened yet? Not as far as a I know. But consider the LIV golfing league and the "sportswashing" we've been seeing - what's stopping them from trying to sponsor college athletes and a public university not wanting to be associated with that situation.
The Block M is one of the most valuable trademarks in sports. You can’t let just anyone use it, lots of legal and policy questions that needed to be answered. Glad they did their due diligence
Yeah, especially when you consider the fact that the school charges a lot of money to major brands to license the UM marks and it would be really easy for some undesirable person or company to get access to that same brand by convincing a teenager to wear his jersey/other UM marks for some pictures and pay a couple grand.
I am all for paying players and giving them access to the value they generate from sports but the worst thing you could do is let it be a complete free-for-all.
Those who insist that this kind of stuff won’t eventually lead to envy and jealousy among teammates display a blithe disregard for the eternal realities of human nature.
And the head coaches, athletic directors, conference execs, bowl game reps, and university presidents—all of whom have benefited financially from the huge influx of TV cash into big time college sports—will have nobody to blame but themselves.
That’s why JJ’s approach is so great. IIRC he had walk on making money at his camp
Are saying jealousy did not exist before NIL or just that there will be more jealousy now?
There is different compensation everywhere for different work. There is jealousy everywhere. I don’t think NIL just created jealousy on football teams.
I legitimately would like to understand more about your point. Is NIL the straw that breaks the back of college football and it will cease to exist?
When compensation was limited to under the table cash, in the vast majority of cases the amounts that were involved are now dwarfed by the amounts that are now being publicly thrown at the players. I think there's a substantial difference between one guy getting nothing and another guy getting $5K under the table, versus one guy getting $1K via NIL and another guy getting $50K or $100K via NIL
Texas's OL are now each getting $50K per year. What are their TEs or LBs or CBs getting? If they don't get the same deal, are all of them going to be fine with that? I'm skeptical.
There's a reason virtually every business large enough to have an HR dept has a policy specifically telling employees to not discuss their compensation with other employees. They have these policies because they know that it is inevitable that there will be employees who will be very angry when they discover that a co-worker is making substantially more than they are for doing the same job.
Nowhere in my post did I claim that college football will cease to exist. I do think that it will change irrevocably, and in my opinion for the worse.
Some NFL players make $20MM+ and some make practice squad money. They seem to make it work just fine.
The problem is the NFL special teamer knows he is a special teamer and signed a contract to match whereas almost every kid on a power 5 roster knows he is going to be a 1st rounder and expects to be treated like one as soon as he steps on campus
I had no idea there were thousands of first round picks in the NFL draft every year.
I think his point was thousands of kids “believe” they are first-round talent but yet there are only 32 spots.
It will be interesting to see if some of the "elite" teams end up with "culture" issues due to this, you are right. You can have as much talent as you want, but if guys are playing as individuals rather than a team, they are gonna have issues.
You're not wrong, but the fact of the matter is that there is going to be jealousy in every workplace. You think the guy making the league minimum salary on the Packers' practice squad isn't jealous that Aaron Rodgers is making $50 million/year? Or the guy riding the bench for Golden State isn't jealous that Curry is making just under $46 million/year? What about the backup long snapper in Tampa Bay while Brady is raking in millions from his NFL contract, Subway, Hertz, and whoever else he's got endorsement deals with right now. Of course they're jealous, but those locker rooms aren't getting torn apart over it.
I suppose you could make the argument of "Well, they're professionals," but that is what NIL has, for better or worse, turned college athletics into. These kids are now, in a sense, professionals, and some kids are just going to be making more money than others. That's just the way it is. It sucks, but that's how corporate America works, too. If you have more responsibility, more visibility, more scrutiny on you when you make mistakes, you are generally going to be making more money. And that's the way it should be.
CJ Stroud is getting these kinds of deals because he is the face of one of the country's premiere football programs. He's earned that status with his level of play, but when his team loses or he makes mistakes that cost his team a game, it's his face that will be plastered all over ESPN and every major news outlet the next morning as being the one who let his team down. He'll be the one who Stephen A. Smith, Paul Finebaum, and every other talking head drags through the mud first thing Monday morning. That's the deal. That's what he signed up for, and that's the tradeoff to getting to drive around in these kinds of cars.
With all that money and all those deals come with it the pressure and expectations of living up to why you got that deal in the first place. No one else on the team, outside of his head coach, has the kind of expectations put on them that he does. Some of his teammates have no real external expectations put on them at all because they don't play.
Now of course, none of this gives Stroud a pass to flaunt his money and status like an asshole (not saying he is, but just making a point). If he's doing that, then yeah, that presents a problem. But if he's not, and it still bothers his teammates that much that he's getting these deals, then maybe they shouldn't be playing football.
There is a difference between driving a G-wagon and riding a bike to school. All the pros are making 6 figures once you get past the taxi squad.
There is a $6m a year per O Lineman protecting a $20m a year QB in the NFL. In college the QB is driving a Mercedes and the some of the O-line guys are riding a Schwinn.
Again, it depends on how everyone handles it. I can see it being a problem with some kids though.
The F500 companies I’ve worked, you’ve got a bunch of lazy ass execs who don’t do shit besides sit in meetings and make short sighted decisions earning $20M+ a year and then the majority of people actually doing all of the work (who are immediately scared of losing their job due to any threat of recession) making $50-150k a year. Welcome to the real world. I think they can figure out how to deal with this in NIL when they’ve been doing this in capitalism for a few hundred years now
I want to hear about a Michigan athlete getting a crazy deal. The flood gates are open and we're still testing the waters.
Is this really a "crazy deal"? A G-Wagon lease is like $2500/month, add in insurance and the ability to change every few months... Worth maybe $50k/year max.
A&M players are getting much larger signing bonuses and aren't Heisman contenders.
I think people honestly assume they hand him the car and clear title. It's basically a free rental. GM's at car dealerships drive around in $90k cars that they don't purchase as well.
This is what most people aren't understanding. He doesn't get to KEEP said G wagon. He just gets to drive it. And I bet there are mileage stipulations to go along with it.
I'm sure he's getting a lot more than just the use of that car
A G-Wagon for being 0-1 against Michigan in his career?
good for him I guess ....
if they would have won...he would have gotten some golden pants...
Michigan players are getting cars too they are flaunting them on their social medias (which is good). Its a super easy NIL thing to do. Give a kid a demo lease for a year, get the car back and then some free advertising. The cost is basically nothing besides depreciation of the car (which is probably very little because its a lease vehicle).
Seems like there’s a post like every week now and the OP is expecting us to be shocked and disappointed. I say good for him, get whatever money you can while you can.
For me, the issue isn't that other student-athletes are getting big NIL deals. The issue is that Michigan seems to be (willingly) staying behind.
There is very little difference between this and showing a recruit a brand-new $XX million practice facility, lifting facility, or upscale dorm / living arrangement. Is it a little squicky? Maybe. Does it eradicate the line between amateur and professional? That line hasn't been in place for decades.
Michigan doesn't have to phrase it as "we're giving you 500K to play for us". It's simple to say, "we have a 500K NIL deal in place for you should you choose to play for us". Not only is this not forbidden, it's not even frowned upon. If Michigan isn't dedicating employees to do exactly this, they should be.