It may have been Fred Akers that said, "There's always an uncle." What he meant was that in the good old days before NIL, <sarcasm tag>when players played for the love of the sport and not because they were getting paid</sarcasm tag> that when schools recruited players, there was always some guy with a dubious connection to the player who wanted to negotiate on the player's behalf. This guy was almost always called an "uncle."
They were shady guys who were looking for a percentage of the under the table money. Welcome to NIL, where you don't have to do it under the table.
There are rumors out there now that some of the NIL companies aren't making payments to the players on time, or sometimes, at all.
For every Arch Manning, who has a family that has a fleet of lawyers to nail down a solid deal and understands all the weasel wording in sports contracts, there are hundreds of kids who end up with an "uncle."
Jake Dickert, the Washington State head coach, said people were contacting his active players and their parents and offering NIL deals.
How many of these people are wannabe "uncles" trying to pick up a percentage of an NIL deal? There's no way to know.
Some of the NIL deals are being offered by boosters setting up shell corporations for recruiting. What happens if they just quit paying? Will the now eighteen year old have a lawyer on retainer to enforce the contract? How will they file a lawsuit when the corporation headquarters is a PO Box, vacant lot, or a boarded up store in a strip mall?
Pro athletes like Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bernie Kosar, Michael Jordan, and countless others ended up losing fortunes. Sometimes it was reckless spending. Sometimes it was child support, sometimes it was alimony, and sometimes it was their business managers screwing them over.
High school kids are brain damaged. When I was seventeen, I was brain damaged. So were you. Think about the decisions you made at seventeen. Now, consider how many of these kids have nobody in their lives that can negotiate a contract, and no idea how to find someone that can negotiate a contract and has their best interests at heart.
A lot of these kids have been protected from real life consequences of stupid actions because they're good athletes. As irresponsible as I was at 17, I can only imagine what I would have been like if I'd been getting the special treatment a lot of them get.
So, how many of these NIL companies are shell outfits, run by fly by night guys? What recourse will the players have if they don't receive the payments?
The NIL money is the only money most of the athletes will ever get from playing football.
There are approximately 16,000 FBS players, and 8,500 P5 players at any given time. That doesn't include DII or III players. There are less than 1,500 NFL players. Less than 1% of BCS players will be in the NFL, and less than 2% of P5 players.
A lot of these players are about to get a life lesson in hardball.
They were shady guys who were looking for a percentage of the under the table money. Welcome to NIL, where you don't have to do it under the table.
There are rumors out there now that some of the NIL companies aren't making payments to the players on time, or sometimes, at all.
For every Arch Manning, who has a family that has a fleet of lawyers to nail down a solid deal and understands all the weasel wording in sports contracts, there are hundreds of kids who end up with an "uncle."
Jake Dickert, the Washington State head coach, said people were contacting his active players and their parents and offering NIL deals.
How many of these people are wannabe "uncles" trying to pick up a percentage of an NIL deal? There's no way to know.
Some of the NIL deals are being offered by boosters setting up shell corporations for recruiting. What happens if they just quit paying? Will the now eighteen year old have a lawyer on retainer to enforce the contract? How will they file a lawsuit when the corporation headquarters is a PO Box, vacant lot, or a boarded up store in a strip mall?
Pro athletes like Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bernie Kosar, Michael Jordan, and countless others ended up losing fortunes. Sometimes it was reckless spending. Sometimes it was child support, sometimes it was alimony, and sometimes it was their business managers screwing them over.
High school kids are brain damaged. When I was seventeen, I was brain damaged. So were you. Think about the decisions you made at seventeen. Now, consider how many of these kids have nobody in their lives that can negotiate a contract, and no idea how to find someone that can negotiate a contract and has their best interests at heart.
A lot of these kids have been protected from real life consequences of stupid actions because they're good athletes. As irresponsible as I was at 17, I can only imagine what I would have been like if I'd been getting the special treatment a lot of them get.
So, how many of these NIL companies are shell outfits, run by fly by night guys? What recourse will the players have if they don't receive the payments?
The NIL money is the only money most of the athletes will ever get from playing football.
There are approximately 16,000 FBS players, and 8,500 P5 players at any given time. That doesn't include DII or III players. There are less than 1,500 NFL players. Less than 1% of BCS players will be in the NFL, and less than 2% of P5 players.
A lot of these players are about to get a life lesson in hardball.
