It appears an undefeated college football team ranked in the top 30 of the AP Poll just lost its starting quarterback ... because of an NIL dispute.

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fmlizard said:
Come Row the Boat. We have a favorable 2025 schedule and lots of TV exposure.

This is reality now, whether folks like it or not. If I was a QB from Holy Cross/UNLV I would be out to get whatever bag I can get while I still can, because he's highly likely to sit in that middle ground between very useful P4 QB and NFL QB.

If he can get $1M from a school like Minnesota to be the QB1 next year not only is it a chance to try his skills at the highest level but also to bank some money at a young age for the rest of his life.

If I was his father I would support it.
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I’d be slobberknockered if MN is offering even a small fraction of that number but who really knows. Derek Burns and he isn’t going to say.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Verbal contracts are binding, they are just harder to prove. If you believe his side of the story, the obligations were not met.

As far as getting it writing - I agree completely. Even if he wanted to go on the cheap, he could get a lawyer to look over a contract - write a contract for $500-$600.
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The cost to prove such a contract wouldn’t pencil out and I can’t believe anyone would ever recommend an oral contract as sound legal advice to either party. Would an attorney take such a case on behalf of an unhappy plaintiff, on an oral agreement and no obligation for reimbursement? Yeah..


Appropriate for rusty tool Craig’s List transactions, at best. And even then…
 

Sure contracts will help, but how do you administer them? Are you really paying QB1 the same as the punter? No shot, so how do you tier this?
 







Stuff said:
I don't understand the hate for the player. If another organization offered me more $ to do the same job I'm doing now, see ya later.
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Exactly, This kid might never again have a chance to make this much money in his life and people shit on him for maximizing it. He isn't breaking the law.

It's kind of like Kirk Cousins, people hate on him for maximizing his salary.

Go out and get it.
 



The UNLV sports collective said they put every one of their deals in writing. Maybe an asst. coach offered 100k but I am dubious. He was the 32nd ranked QB in the portal. Seems like a lot of a mid level QB. And why didn’t he get this in writing? It sounds like everyone else is.
 

Wally said:
Exactly, This kid might never again have a chance to make this much money in his life and people shit on him for maximizing it. He isn't breaking the law.

It's kind of like Kirk Cousins, people hate on him for maximizing his salary.

Go out and get it.
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I think it is because sports or especially college sports encompasses something more than another job. Loyalty, competitiveness, team camaraderie. Maybe that is all BS, but the old system at least gave the illusion of this.
 

DarthGopher said:
If CFB does not get this under control, they are going to destroy their product. Have universities pay the athletes directly, implement a salary cap, and be done with it already. Draft high school players.
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They can’t implement a salary cap. That would be illegal
 

Wally said:
Exactly, This kid might never again have a chance to make this much money in his life and people shit on him for maximizing it. He isn't breaking the law.

It's kind of like Kirk Cousins, people hate on him for maximizing his salary.

Go out and get it.
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I'm not sure this QB has done that much to garner much better offers than he had last off season so it would be weird if all of a sudden he has gotten a huge offer he didn't get before. UNLV's defense is a big reason they're 3-0.

I don't think people would shit on him as much if he wasn't doing it in the middle of the season which potentially hurts his now former teammates. Cousins didn't leave the Vikings in the middle of the season.
 



Pompous Elitist said:
The cost to prove such a contract wouldn’t pencil out and I can’t believe anyone would ever recommend an oral contract as sound legal advice to either party. Would an attorney take such a case on behalf of an unhappy plaintiff, on an oral agreement and no obligation for reimbursement? Yeah..


Appropriate for rusty tool Craig’s List transactions, at best. And even then…
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No one would. It's an awful way to do business. I'm just saying that it's still a contract, proving it is just difficult. Oral agreements do have obligations to pay, it' s just difficult to prove the contract.

As far as an attorney taking a case based off a disagreement about an oral agreement, attorneys take them all the time. Those cases typically come down to circumstantial evidence which can be extremely powerful.
 

Stuff said:
I don't understand the hate for the player. If another organization offered me more $ to do the same job I'm doing now, see ya later.
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Don’t mistake the hate for the (new) game as hate for the player.
 


WoodburyTim said:
I think it is because sports or especially college sports encompasses something more than another job. Loyalty, competitiveness, team camaraderie. Maybe that is all BS, but the old system at least gave the illusion of this.
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In recent years it's become athletes getting taken advantage of to make other people many many many millions of dollars.

The illusion is heartwarming, even I like it emotionally.

But, How heart warming is it to the kid getting multiple concussions for tuition vs his coach making 4,5,6,7,8,9 million a year...
 

GophersInIowa said:
I don't think people would shit on him as much if he wasn't doing it in the middle of the season which potentially hurts his now former teammates. Cousins didn't leave the Vikings in the middle of the season.
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Cousins had a contract, he couldn't leave.

I assume they could have given the kid a similar contract but probably not, because the NIL money isn't from their employer.

For example.
Can someone(not affiliated with McDonald's) make you sign a contract to say you will work at McDonald's, they pay you to keep working there, completely separate from McDonald's and your pay from McDonald's?

Probably not, why, because McDonald's can fire you at any time, then what? It just creates such a mess that the courts would very likely not allow such contracts.

The only solution is a college players union and collectively bargained contracts. There is a reason every pro sports league has them
 


Stuff said:
I don't understand the hate for the player. If another organization offered me more $ to do the same job I'm doing now, see ya later.
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Football is a team game and you’re four games in as the quarterback you have a responsibility to your teammates. Get your nonsense settled up front not 1/3 of the way through the season. Playing football in college is also about experiences not just money even in today’s world and with and the amount of money we’re talking about here, even though I was dirt poor, I wouldn’t trade my experiences for that. UNLV seems to have caught lightening in a bottle his next stop he might end up on the bench. This isn’t a budding superstar.

I also wouldn’t hire this kid ever to come work for me, either.
 

Wally said:
Cousins had a contract, he couldn't leave.

I assume they could have given the kid a similar contract but probably not, because the NIL money isn't from their employer.

For example.
Can someone(not affiliated with McDonald's) make you sign a contract to say you will work at McDonald's, they pay you to keep working there, completely separate from McDonald's and your pay from McDonald's?

Probably not, why, because McDonald's can fire you at any time, then what? It just creates such a mess that the courts would very likely not allow such contracts.

The only solution is a college players union and collectively bargained contracts. There is a reason every pro sports league has them
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I agree about the union and contracts. It's just not the same as a regular job. Someone leaving their McDonalds job doesn't affect others like the starting QB leaving 3 games into the season does.

I personally don't like how much college athletics is turning into the pros where players make decisions largely on money.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I agree about the union and contracts. It's just not the same as a regular job. Someone leaving their McDonalds job doesn't affect others like the starting QB leaving 3 games into the season does.

I personally don't like how much college athletics is turning into the pros where players make decisions largely on money.
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I can't stand when people make the comparison to someone leaving their job for a different one and act like it is or should be viewed the same when it comes to sports.

The vast majority of those that don't like what is going on have no issue with payers getting paid, they just want to see some structure to it all as opposed to the mass chaos that is out there right now.

There is very little true hate being directed at any of the players (outside of from the fanbase of the team they are leaving) but everytime one of these stories comes out it is just another example of the stupidity of everything right now in terms of what is going on with the current pay for play system being called NIL.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Someone leaving their McDonalds job doesn't affect others like the starting QB leaving 3 games into the season does.
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If he is that valuable then he should have a contract and compensation that reflects his value.

This is what happens when you get rid of all regulations, it's a shit show. Hopefully it can all eventually get sorted out in a way that brings stability and fair compensation to the players.
 

Wally said:
In recent years it's become athletes getting taken advantage of to make other people many many many millions of dollars.

The illusion is heartwarming, even I like it emotionally.

But, How heart warming is it to the kid getting multiple concussions for tuition vs his coach making 4,5,6,7,8,9 million a year...
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This point has been argued over and over, but the claims of the millions being made off of players doesn't stand up to scrutiny. A few generated millions of dollars and most of the money at most of the schools went to supplement non-revenue sports. But either way that isn't really what this discussion is about and no amount of posting about how few Athletic Departments actually make money is going to change some peoples mind, because it is just isn't as interesting as the narrative of fat cats exploiting college kids.

My point is that everyone is entitle to make business decisions with their interests in mind. But college football has also relied on the fanbases not making smart business decisions and really Universities or the tax bases largely supporting them. So if everyone starts making sound financial decisions, the model will crumble.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I can't stand when people make the comparison to someone leaving their job for a different one and act like it is or should be viewed the same when it comes to sports.
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Football is a game where you can die, damage your brain and permanently damage your body. These are regular occurrences in football.

Colleges want these athletes "committed" yet they don't want to call them employees and offer them the basic protections the average employee has.

We are in this situation because of the abusive nature of the NCAA and college athletics.

What this kid is doing is good.

Why?
Because it will push the stakeholders to figure out real solutions.

If they are smart they try to emulate the NFL, no one is crushing more than the NFL.
 


My thoughts on this and some of the commentary in this thread:

1. Yes I believe players should have a right to be paid what the market dictates for their talent. And this story doesn't change my feelings on that one bit.
2. I don't like what this kid did, I think there's a big chance he regrets it. But that isn't a good argument against players being compensated. He will face certain social consequences for his actions, and he made a choice to have to deal with that.
3. We as fans like to believe there is this loyalty to your school, your teammates, etc. And for some guys there is, but in my experiences talking with people who played high level collegiate athletics, it's much more of an individualistic experience than people realize.
4. I would hesitate bringing this kid into my program as a coach, and as an employer I would almost certainly not hire him.
 


The beginning of the end. If you're a top 35 program, life is good. If you're a school like MN, Pitt, UNLV, or Memphis St you're a feeder program. You recruit kids, and if any of them outplay their star ranking a big, well-heeled program will come along and scoop them up. You can keep anything that's left over. It happened with Bucky Irving, but we've mostly dodged that bullet so far. We won't be so lucky after this season. When that happens, and we're all disillusioned by the state of CFB, are we still going to be in front of our TV sets every Saturday watching "the big game" featuring MI vs OSU with DT at tailback for the Wolverines and Perich at FS for the Buckeyes? Because that type of scenario IS going to happen.
 


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