Troy Aikman is 'done' funding NIL:'I wrote a sizable check, and he went to another school. I didn’t even get so much as a thank you note'

[u/tankyouout]

https://awfulannouncing.com/college-football/troy-aikman-done-nil.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3]

This is going to be the common experience for boosters that may eventually rein in the craziness. No one’s caring about fiscal oversight in the middle of an arms race.

[u/BrettHullsBurner → u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3]

It will actually be crazy if the norm becomes big time players making $200k-$400k and mid players making like $50k after the dust settles. But then we look back at like a 5 year stretch (now) where players were making 10x that like it was the Wild West of who can just pay the most.

[u/Tmoney2102 → u/BrettHullsBurner]

This is actually exactly what happened to the NFL with rookie contracts except the weird thing was, these teams drafted the players already. I guess the fear was some players were going to refuse a smaller contract and then request a trade, but the JaMarcus Russell rookie contract essentially brought on the idea of rookie fixed contracts. The same thing needs to happen with high school recruits. Fixed contracts and then the salary cap will have to be handled in a way to make sure the money is being used to fill out each teams rosters in the right spot. Transfer and high school recruit contracts being fixed to a certain amount and having salary caps would fix most of these NIL - Transfer portal issues.

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/Tmoney2102]

The fear was the hold out. 

I should know. I’m a bengals fan. 

[u/[deleted] → u/Tmoney2102]

Sam Bradford was who really broke the mold with his contract. He signed for like 80 million right outta college. He's still top 75 highest earning players of all time despite being pretty mid and only having an 8 year career.

[u/Better-Marketing-680 → u/[deleted]]

A part of me actually felt bad for the Lions (Vikings Fan) because they drafted 3 legit guys that should have turned that franchise around, but the organization of the league at the time completely screwed them out of some (probably) good teams in the late-aughts to early-tens.

[u/MiniGiantSpaceHams → u/Better-Marketing-680]

It was bad for almost everyone. The bad teams got locked into these rookie contracts and couldn't build a team around them, for the league the best young players were all wasting away on hopeless teams that couldn't afford to get better, and for the non-rookie players there was less money to spend on them because it was all tied up in rookies. Lose-lose-lose. Only the ~top 10 rookies got any benefit, and the guys who lost out due to the rule change weren't in the league yet to vote on it.

[u/AdmiralProton → u/[deleted]]

Wasn't it already decided before Sam got drafted? We knew going into that draft that it was the last one before the rookie fixed contract. I may be misremembering.

[u/mookiexpt2 → u/AdmiralProton]

Yup. That’s why he declared early.

[u/GiraffesAndGin → u/[deleted]]

Stafford had a wild contract the year before, but then Bradford got handed a contract for 20% more. It was just insane.

[u/mehnimalism → u/Tmoney2102]

The difference is the NFL has an antitrust waiver and college sports keeps losing the lawsuits which would allow this.

Idk how this ends but schools competing in a free market while billionaire-owned for-profit corporations don’t is quintessentially American.

I think both players and coaches need more conditions put on their contracts. The idea that a guy can leave one year into a big NIL deal or a coach can leave any time yet is owed full contract if fired for performance is crazy.

[u/lostinthought15 → u/mehnimalism]

The NFL has collective bargaining between owners and players. That’s the real difference.

[u/dccorona → u/mehnimalism]

Well, they have an antitrust waiver and a players' union. That second piece is pretty important in this context.

[u/Daamus- → u/Tmoney2102]

The same thing needs to happen with high school recruits. Fixed contracts and then the salary cap will have to be handled in a way to make sure the money is being used to fill out each teams rosters in the right spot. Transfer and high school recruit contracts being fixed to a certain amount and having salary caps would fix most of these NIL - Transfer portal issues.

is it even college football anymore at this point? just sounds like the NFL minor leagues

[u/Nanderson423 → u/Daamus-]

sounds like the NFL minor leagues

It wasn't already?

[u/Geno0wl → u/Nanderson423]

The illusion was shattered for me when the NFL suspended Terrelle Pryor for six games because of his NCAA violations(but conveniently didn't punish Tress).

[u/nick_oc18 → u/BrettHullsBurner]

Kind of like those late 2000s NFL rookie deals where Jamarcus Russell, Sam Bradford and Matt Stafford were made among the highest paid players in the league before ever taking a snap. Now there is a rookie pay scale. I suspect something similar coming to NIL

[u/[deleted] → u/nick_oc18]

Yep; I remember this era. Changes only happen when the rich get shafted lol

[u/scotsworth → u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3]

I saw this trajectory way back when Quinn Ewers joined Ohio State right at the start of NIL.

• - He reclassified to enroll early (2021) and take advantage of NIL money (thus altering the program's plans for QB by being a year early)
• - Got a big time NIL deal, a new car, etc.
• - Sat on the bench for 1 season (2021, behind Cj Stroud,) never playing a meaningful snap.
• - Would have sat for one more year (2022), but transferred out to Texas in 2022, causing the program to have to alter QB plans anyway (Going with McCord in 2023, and including going to the portal for Will Howard in 2024)

If you're an Ohio State booster who contributed cash to land Ewers, you just absolutely set money on fire. Why would you ever want to do that again?

[u/SkrtSkrt70 → u/scotsworth]

While Ewers absolutely gamed the system and was probably transferring back to Texas no matter what, it’s worth mentioning that him being at OSU was way before Will Howard. His redshirt year was 2021 which was Stroud’s first year starting so there was zero chance of Ewers starting for us in 2022 if he had stayed

[u/scotsworth → u/SkrtSkrt70]

Oh yeah I'm projecting it out from when he enrolled early (before Ohio State was actually ready for him tbh).

• His first year would always have been a bench spot behind Stroud (but it became two years since he reclassified early for NIL $$ to join in 2021).
• He likely would have beat out McCord in 2023. It would have been his job to lose.
• He would have started again last year, so we never would have had to go for Will Howard (which we did when McCord wasn't great and Day wouldn't guarantee his starting spot for 2024).

[u/Conn3er → u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3]

Markets are self-correcting!

[u/DirkNowitzkisWife]

It really is the Wild West out here. How long until these NIL deals are contracts, with potential opt outs on both sides? Or the ability to claw back money if a player leaves.

By then they’re just young professionals, and the FBS is simply a minor league

[u/ztreHdrahciR → u/DirkNowitzkisWife]

By then

For a while now

[u/Budget-Ocelots → u/DirkNowitzkisWife]

This shit isn't an amateur league anymore. We need harsher regulation and contract rule for NIL deals. Need to change the NIL structure into more of a professional one.

Leaving early should require a buyout/cancel fee, and an additional penalty fee for opting out to play in any game, regular or postseason game.

In addition, entering the portal without fully playing out the NIL contract should make them ineligible for next season for the remaining length of that contract until a buyout happens.

There should also be a posting fee to enter the portal that needs to be paid before the player is allowed to fully transfer over. A 10% and 20% payout back to the original school for player-development investment if the player gets a NIL contract that is worth more than 100k and 1M.

Congress needs to step up and regulated this with some common antitrust and labor laws like other sport leagues.

[u/ionospherermutt → u/Budget-Ocelots]

other sports leagues have collective bargaining. it's not congress that's dragging it's heels, it's the ncaa. most of the things you mention would be illegal in the absence of collective bargaining, because of anti-trust laws. congress could theoretically pass carve-outs to anti-trust laws to force these conditions upon athletes without collective bargaining, but it would be a glaring exception to the typical way that labor laws work.

[u/udubdavid]

Yup this is why even the biggest boosters support regulations around it.

[u/Black_Numenorean88 → u/udubdavid]

I feel like some common sense on Aikman's part would do the trick. He apparently offered the kid one lump sum upfront to commit. With the way NIL rules are, you should expect the kid to leave every single time for another paycheck. Its like a 4 year deal with a player opt out after every year, and a $0 salary for every year after the first. No NFL GM in his right mind would give out that deal, why should these boosters?

Make your promise a yearly payment knowing that you may have to give them a raise if they perform well enough, or save your money for high-quality upperclassmen who you don't mind paying to be a one-and-done.

[u/MonarchLawyer → u/Black_Numenorean88]

"Well it can't be pay for play!" Well it fucking should be. It already basically is except free agency every single off season.

[u/Anxious_Rock_3630 → u/MonarchLawyer]

Im a fan of Georgia suing the player for leaving. More schools should do it. Read contracts your uncle negotiated for you.

[u/C6ntFor9et → u/Anxious_Rock_3630]

I mean it’s not like the concept of sports contracts is a new thing. Professional sports have figured out how to make them work for ages now. College athletes need a cba in place, and that’d solve like 99% of the issues we’re seeing.

[u/Mcpops1618 → u/C6ntFor9et]

Though these aren’t contracts with teams.

These are essentially endorsement deals.

Until there is a pay for play system, we, as fans, cat bitch about it. nCAA had 50 years to figure out likeness issues and when they were forced to open Pandora’s box they chose to go with zero guardrails

[u/BWW87 → u/Mcpops1618]

Endorsement deals can require people stay

[u/Tr0janSword → u/BWW87]

Yup. A very infamous endorsement deal to plant trees had only one requirement: play for your current team.

[u/Mcpops1618 → u/BWW87]

They can say “we’ll pay you x if you’re here on (date)”

People paying NILs upfront and not as instalments are the idiots. Don’t blame kids for being smarter than those holding the bag.

[u/hacky_potter → u/Black_Numenorean88]

I’m not sure why NIL isn’t attached to contracts. It’s not like it’s against the rules.

[u/wavygr4vy → u/hacky_potter]

I thought you specifically couldn’t tie NIL to the games being played?

[u/Black_Numenorean88 → u/wavygr4vy]

I'm sure that there are ways to get around this, like making it contingent on enrolling in classes instead.

[u/SmarterThanMyBoss → u/Black_Numenorean88]

"You get $1 million dollars if you show up for 10 autograph signings at a time and place of our choosing in the greater Columbus area between August and November of next year."

[u/CrookedHearts → u/SmarterThanMyBoss]

A player can still show up for autograph signings and meet the contract requirements,, even if he transfered to another team or even quit football all together.

[u/jlt6666 → u/CrookedHearts]

Not if the signings are on Saturdays.

[u/lab-gone-wrong → u/udubdavid]

"I wrote a sizable check!"

"And this gives you power over me?"

[u/JoshFB4 → u/lab-gone-wrong]

No but paying players mercenary 1 year contracts that they can break at any time with no penalty is unsustainable.

[u/GobiYumaMojave → u/JoshFB4]

should be a standard contract, $X over X years, signing bonus, etc… buy out clause if they want to transfer to another school, likely paid by that new school. good lord whats is happening to this sport

[u/[deleted] → u/GobiYumaMojave]

The problem is that the NCAA still won’t allow “pay for play” even though we all know that this has been pay for play for a few years now.

[u/BeTheBall- → u/[deleted]]

It's really been pay for play for decades.

[u/DankMemesNQuickNuts → u/BeTheBall-]

Love him to death but I know for a fact that Dabo was giving kids shit under the table at Clemson before the NIL

A running back that went to Clemson from my high school got a car from the football team when he started attending school. Mind you, it was an old used corolla, but I know for a fact that he didn't buy the car and was gifted it

[u/uconnball17 → u/[deleted]]

Craig James??

[u/grapeantler → u/uconnball17]

Hide your hookers! (allegedly)

[u/[deleted] → u/DankMemesNQuickNuts]

When I went to Nebraska, every kid had a decent car. No one had Aston Martins or the wild stuff they have now with NIL, but every kid from the inner city or wherever was at least driving a new Impala or something of that range.

[u/HuevosProfundos → u/[deleted]]

There were always so many late model muscle cars parked around the UGA athletic facilities even in the pre-NIL days lol

[u/katarh → u/HuevosProfundos]

"It's my auntie's car!"

...... that she got with a 0% interest no down payment loan that won't be collected for 3-4 years, at which point it's written off for a tax break.

[u/olcrazypete → u/HuevosProfundos]

Had a friend at Hayward Allen Toyota in Athens who knew all the players. They would bring cars in for a wash weekly. All leases under this or that boosters name.

[u/direwolf71 → u/[deleted]]

The greatest college athlete car story is Eric Dickerson getting a gold Trans Am from Texas A&M for verbally committing and then signing with SMU.

Dickerson insisted his grandma bought him the car and maintained that lie for over 40 years before finally admitting grandma was reimbursed.

He also said he didn’t sign with A&M because he wanted to meet girls at college and all the male cheerleaders at A&M were freaking him out.

[u/Shasty-McNasty → u/DankMemesNQuickNuts]

Cam Newton taught us that as long as you funnel the gift through a church, it’s all good. Praise Newspring. 🙌

[u/CampingJosh → u/BeTheBall-]

Why didn't anybody tell us?!

[u/Tritristu → u/CampingJosh]

Guess your basketball team didn’t pass the word

[u/UnusualHound → u/GobiYumaMojave]

It will have to be collective bargaining. If X school offers those stipulations, nothing stops Y school from offering the same money without clauses. It'll either be done by the Conference or some other entity.

[u/CrookedWarden19 → u/lab-gone-wrong]

"Do you feel... in charge?"

[u/BandOfDonkeys → u/CrookedWarden19]

The gentle placement of the back of his hand on Daggett's shoulder is the smoothest FU I can think of. Just absolute disrespect and I love it.
I pull that move on my cat from time to time when I want to feel like a big man.

[u/illegal_deagle → u/lab-gone-wrong]

“Do you feel in charge?”

-The Bagman

[u/Wicky_wild_wild → u/lab-gone-wrong]

Isn't that how "jobs" work? Since this is a job now.

[u/patrick66 → u/Wicky_wild_wild]

The thing is it’s explicitly not a job still because the ncaa won’t let schools openly pay players

NIL deals are only valid if they are unrelated to school/game performance. It’s very dumb.

[u/ProfProfessorberg → u/lab-gone-wrong]

Amazing scene. Bane was truly scary in that moment.

[u/n00nah → u/[deleted]]

Manners maketh wins

[u/Vast_Bowl247]

Eventually rich guys will stop writing checks once they realize players keep leaving their favorite school. I would think they’d be smart enough to do that

[u/mynameizmyname → u/Vast_Bowl247]

"You're exactly right Joe"

[u/shakin_the_bacon → u/mynameizmyname]

Right you are, Ken!

[u/deltr0nzero → u/shakin_the_bacon]

Let’s get it on!

[u/jackwhite886 → u/shakin_the_bacon]

CFB Playoffs: Don’t Get Eliminated

[u/withrootsabove → u/shakin_the_bacon]

Who here thinks that college football is a celebration of amateur sport and school pride?

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️🙋

Well, you’re wrong. It’s actually a vehicle for university administration and media conglomerates to make heaps of money at the expense of tradition and the fan experience. Hehehe LETS GO!

[u/KolKlink2024 → u/shakin_the_bacon]

Lettttssss Goooooo!!!!

[u/Twalin → u/mynameizmyname]

Now this is the reason Al Gore invented the internet

[u/Troubledking-313 → u/Twalin]

Thought it was to spread the news about manbearpig

[u/jamiebond → u/Vast_Bowl247]

Offering big bucks to high schoolers is just a stupid move. If I’m running an NIL fund I ain’t paying a cent for a player unless they’re playing for me that season. As in actually on the field contributing to wins, not on the sideline “developing.” Let other schools pay a kid a million dollars to use their practice facilities for a year, the best value for your buck is transfers.

[u/dawgpack09 → u/jamiebond]

I agree, except for offensive linemen, I feel like those are the ones that you need to find in high school and hold onto. Other than that, transfers seem to be the way to go if you have the money and talent identification people for it

[u/elgenie → u/dawgpack09]

Being able to attract and develop defensive linemen, especially dtackles, offers similar benefits.

[u/InevitableAd2436 → u/jamiebond]

Ironically Jedd discussed taking the opposite approach.

Freshman year they get the “signing bonus”, sophomore and junior year are consistent and the senior year is a bump.

I think he envisioned it as 30% - 20% - 20% - 30%

And to his credit there haven’t been many key players leaving the program under him.

[u/FuckTheStateofOhio → u/jamiebond]

I wonder how long it takes until every other school becomes a farm system for the top 10-15 programs. Hopefully we see NIL reform before then.

[u/[deleted] → u/FuckTheStateofOhio]

that’s what college basketball already is, more or less

[u/[deleted] → u/FuckTheStateofOhio]

It's been happening since the NCAA granted Baker Mayfield a free transfer from Tech to Oklahoma. That was literally our argument.

There will never be another Randy Moss at Marshall, or Jerry Rice at Tennessee-Chatanooga. Well there might be, but only for one year.

[u/mAace_ → u/[deleted]]

Well, Randy Moss got kicked out of Notre Dame and Florida State before having to go to Marshall, so not quite the same but point still stands

[u/[deleted] → u/mAace_]

If there was free transfers, I think he would've been back at a big school, but you are right, he wasn't exactly a diamond in the rough.

[u/AllegedlyIncompetent → u/[deleted]]

Whoa now, Jerry Rice was Mississippi Valley State.

[u/[deleted] → u/AllegedlyIncompetent]

Reggie White was Tennessee Chatanooga. How could I have made that mistake

[u/tmart14 → u/[deleted]]

You were thinking of Terrell Owen’s at UTC

[u/yesacabbagez → u/Vast_Bowl247]

The issue is there will always be some that pay. As long as there is someone paying, the rest will pay. That's why they are trying to lobby for legislation. They are too vain to just stop paying if it means their team loses. Only way they get it to stop is they invent a legal means to stop players from moving.

They are all free market as long as it is their market that is free.

[u/DarknMean → u/yesacabbagez]

Nothing a contract wouldn’t fix. Just like the NFL. Sign a 2 or 3 year contract with that school.

[u/RogerPenroseSmiles → u/DarknMean]

Is that the end goal, keep fucking boosters till universities fold and have to classify them as employees?

If so I'm for it, you can stick it to boosters and admins at the same time.

[u/gtne91 → u/DarknMean]

5 year with a large buyout clause.

[u/EmpoleonNorton → u/yesacabbagez]

As long as there is someone paying, the rest will pay.

It's basically a variation of the Prisoner's Dilemma.

[u/Mojo141 → u/Vast_Bowl247]

Especially with zero controls or salary caps. But then if you have salary caps there will be teams refusing things like NCAA video games and others that pay everyone. Not to mention coaches leaving prior to the end of the season and zero transparency other than the eyeball test from the committee. It's a shit show and it's killing the enjoyment of the game.

[u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

That’s actually ironic considering I donate a very insignificant amount to get tickets and I literally receive a hand written thank you card every year written from one of our athletes.

Private equity will probably put a halt to that too.

[u/SLCer → u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

I got a phone call from Dampier lol

[u/BIG_DICK_WHITT → u/SLCer]

“Hello this is Devon Dampier”

“Fuck you dude I’m not stupid, this is a scam. I ain’t giving you shit.”

“Ah fuck man I just wanted to say thanks but okay”

[u/swammeyjoe → u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

I have season tickets (plus mandatory donation) for my local D1 school's baseball team. They're an FCS school for football, so it's not a huge athletic program but decent.

I get like three calls a year from the head coach. One time I didn't answer and they left a 40 second, personalized voicemail. 

Poor Troy not even getting a thank you.

[u/zombie_gas → u/swammeyjoe]

I took a tennis lesson from our local university’s coach and he said they would put my name on the building for $100k. I was shocked it was that low.

[u/HeartSodaFromHEB → u/zombie_gas]

With how things run nowadays, you gotta checkwhere they put it and how long it will stay there.

[u/Ole_St_John → u/HeartSodaFromHEB]

The zombie_gas political science building presented by Trojan Condoms.

[u/aramis34143 → u/HeartSodaFromHEB]

placard: "The John Boosterman Memorial Urinal"

John: "Hell, I'm not even dead, man."

[u/poop-dolla → u/HeartSodaFromHEB]

“The Zombie_Gas floor 2 hall C men’s restroom”

[u/GliscorsFang → u/swammeyjoe]

That's kinda cool actually

[u/awoodz92 → u/SLCer]

Same and I prolly donate like…the bare minimum

[u/JohnPaulDavyJones → u/SLCer]

A high-end P4 teams sitting down their starting QB with a call sheet is absolutely crazy work.

[u/SLCer → u/JohnPaulDavyJones]

Utah's done it for as long as I can remember. I got one from Cam Rising in 2022 too.

[u/JohnPaulDavyJones → u/SLCer]

Huh. That's actually kind of cool, connects the player with the fans and the community!

[u/gthrift → u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

I’m not sure if they still do it, but my uncle lives in Clemson and he used to have players and coaches deliver his season tickets to his doors for the big three sports. My brother lives a few miles outside Clemson and would get upset because he donates more and only got a note with his.

[u/Montigue → u/gthrift]

And now they're upset with you for obvious reasons

[u/freeball78 → u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

That's very classy. I'd rather get that than yet another fridge magnet I won't use.

[u/UConnSimpleJack → u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

I donate $15k a year to UConn sports and this year they sent me a sticker as a thank you. So it could be worse!

[u/WhoDatBrow → u/UConnSimpleJack]

Hello it is I, UConn sports

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Great idea! I’m sure the northern schools would love that. Free heating!

[u/PhishOhio → u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

That card stock is really cutting into their ARR 

[u/251Cane]

Troy you can write me a sizable check and I will literally fly to your house to thank you for it

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/251Cane]

I will send you a weekly cookie bouquet. 

Or fruit of the month club. 

[u/Bshaw95 → u/Inconceivable76]

The gift that keeps on giving.

[u/huhwhat90 → u/251Cane]

I'll even stay and make him dinner. I hope he likes spaghetti!

[u/Jekena]

There was a lot of chatter at the time that Dante Moore wouldn’t do the bare minimum of his agreed upon NIL obligations in his one year at UCLA. Wouldn’t do the Zoom interview with the UCLA fan site that every other player agreed to. Apparently wouldn’t say thank you to Troy Aikman either I guess. Just one of many reasons why he left.

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/Jekena]

Is there anything more dumb than a college qb wanting to go pro making an enemy of a the biggest voice in the NFL?

Like, have you no sense of self preservation?

[u/runfayfun → u/[deleted]]

If?

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/[deleted]]

Nothing more fun than Troy and Joe and a bad game. 

[u/nstutzman28 → u/Jekena]

Ya it was pretty clear Dante didn't care. Refused to read the defense and go through the progression of the plays Chip designed. Preferred to just rely on arm talent alone. And then just stopped caring altogether and threw multiple lazy pick sixes that weren't even close.

Apparently he's balling for Oregon now, probably a mix of Oregon having better OL and WRs and Dante caring. NFL gonna have to be careful about his attitude. Dante would not be good for the Browns, for example

[u/MsMorganzola → u/Jekena]

Yeah, this is SO obviously Dante.

[u/JoeM3120]

It’s a house of cards that is eventually going to collapse

[u/RobertNeyland → u/JoeM3120]

It's teetering, and I think that private-equity involvement will break a ton of fans. I've had season tickets for over 30 years, and that would be the last straw for me.

I'd rather drop down to Division III, with no athletic scholarships, and go back to students coaching the Vols against Chattanooga, ETSU, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Maryville College, Carson-Newman, and Sewanee like it was done around the Spanish-American War, rather than the football team be ran by some PE leeches.

[u/SaltyLonghorn → u/RobertNeyland]

Yep give me a concession stand in a trailer selling shitty snocones and pouring wolf brand chili and nacho cheese straight into a fritos bag.

[u/dalr3th1n → u/SaltyLonghorn]

Are you asking for this for football or just in general?

[u/mbe8819]

They’re begging “regular folk” alumni too.

Picture it:

You’re living paycheck to paycheck. Your ex-wife calls and tells you your part of the orthodontist payment is due. You walk up to your apartment door and see a rent increase notice.

You sit down on the couch to scroll social media. You receive an email from your favorite school asking that you donate money to the NIL collective - while your favorite player (who just hit the portal) is posting pics of a lambo.

[u/asmallercat → u/mbe8819]

Even before NIL stuff getting emails from your alma mater was ridiculous - like, I paid for my education. I paid way above market rate for room and board. In return you gave me a degree. End of transaction.

[u/Gmitch528 → u/asmallercat]

Right, let’s call it even. Instead I graduated 21 years ago and still get something in the mail from time to time asking to give back. I guess at least the phone calls stopped. That used to be something getting calls from current students asking for donations.

[u/Alternative_Ant_2275 → u/Gmitch528]

Haha I actually just got one of those calls and because I had just recently gotten a new and better paying job and was feeling good that day I was in the process of pulling out my card to donate like $50 when they go “so the minimum donation is $150 and the recommended amount is $300” at which point I immediately put my card away and ended the call. You’re cold calling me and asking for free money and then have the gaul to set a minimum donation? F off

[u/rodwritesstuff → u/Alternative_Ant_2275]

That's actually absurd.

[u/GliscorsFang → u/Gmitch528]

Dude that was the worst on-campus job by a country mile

[u/schreinz → u/asmallercat]

They handed out flyers at graduation asking for money. I went to public school my whole life. The brief period I was on student government at UNI, the President at one point gave a speech saying "We used to be state schools, then we became state funded schools, then state sponsored schools, then state subsidized schools, and now we're state harassed schools."

What the fuck are they asking ME for money for?

[u/[deleted] → u/asmallercat]

Relevant John Mulaney

[u/BonerTurds → u/[deleted]]

“It’s been a while since you’ve given us MONAYYY!”

“Yea? It’s been a while since you’ve housed and taught me.”

[u/canman7373 → u/asmallercat]

Years ago there was a post on reddit of an article saying young people are fine if they just budget. It it an insanely low cost rent and food prices on it, was all over the place but the one funny thing budgeted was college alumni at like $170 a month, the funny part was she also had student loans at $300 a month. Who the hell is going to send money to their rich college while you are still paying for the overpriced education you got 10 years ago?

[u/34Heartstach → u/asmallercat]

Mine always calls me on Friday nights at like 8pm. I bet theyre expecting me to be 5 beers in and generous.

Issue is that we're a bunch of nerds and want the donations to go to something STUPID like academic scholarships or research facilities.

[u/Mulching-SZN → u/mbe8819]

And then you hop on twitter and some wierdo is posting a picture of your stadium 10 minutes before kickoff complaining about attendance…like man this world is expensive and they are already squeezing us “regular folk” for money

[u/CreativeWaves → u/Mulching-SZN]

Tickets for anything are so absurd I just don't care about seeing anything live anymore. It's not worth it.

[u/Mulching-SZN → u/CreativeWaves]

Doesn’t cost $50 to park my car outside my house either

[u/VegasAWD → u/CreativeWaves]

Or the drive like 50 minutes away where the stadium is in the worst part of town with $6 water and it’s 99 degrees out

[u/Real-Ad-1728 → u/mbe8819]

Fuck the orthodontist, my people need me! Little Timmy can just suck it up and deal with his crooked ass teeth, it’ll build character!

[u/mbe8819 → u/Real-Ad-1728]

“Kirby needs this! You understand, right son?”

[u/StoicFable → u/mbe8819]

My wife left me.

[u/actuarial_defender → u/StoicFable]

But with just a small donation of $100, you could get Maalik Murphy to stay one more year!

[u/Arkehn → u/actuarial_defender]

His wife left him for Maalik Murphy.

[u/[deleted] → u/Arkehn]

rats

[u/guyute2588 → u/mbe8819]

Jesus

[u/Lorjack]

People will dunk on Aikman for this but its a pretty normal response. Wouldn't you stop giving out money to these athletes if they don't even commit to the college you support? Also some common courtesy ain't much to ask for in this case.

[u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 → u/Lorjack]

It's called donor fatigue. Not only are they not always seeing the results that they thought they were paying for, but they're continually being asked for donations. It's more common than most think for donors to get frustrated and stop donating. Believe it or not they are not endless fountains of cash.

[u/direwolf71 → u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756]

Big donors are also accustomed to funding specific projects that often end with their name on a building or some other form of ego-boosting recognition. Donating to NIL is just a black hole.

[u/Zolo49 → u/Lorjack]

I don’t think anyone’s going to dunk on Aikman for this unless it’s one of those fictional fans from the Dr Pepper Fansville commercials.

[u/Tmoney2102 → u/Zolo49]

Even they understand the big wig boosters outbid everybody.

[u/ExpensiveCover950 → u/Zolo49]

Those Fansville actors probably have enough money now to cut checks to the school of their choice now.

[u/StudioGangster1 → u/Lorjack]

Who is going to dunk on him for this? This is great

[u/DerwoodMcDaniel]

Man if I’m a college QB and Troy Fucking Aikman likes me enough to stroke a check, I’m at least asking for the school to arrange a lunch with Troy so I can pick his brain about playing QB. He’s America’s QB.

[u/WafflePartyOrgy → u/DerwoodMcDaniel]

I’m at least asking for the school to arrange a lunch with Troy so I can pick his brain

Then transfer to the Oregon Ducks.

[u/BurgeroftheDayz]

Been waiting for this. How many of these players were given big money and then either weren’t good or transferred? Just wonder how long the boosters will keep throwing big money at it

[u/Tmoney2102 → u/BurgeroftheDayz]

I give it 5 years. At some point their will be fixed contracts and we will look back at these days as the Wild West of NIL and Transfer portal.

[u/fighting_gopher]

The only way NIL makes sense to me is if people actually make money off their image…jersey sales, ticket sales, tv/clothing deals, etc. Maybe I’m not the norm but having people just write a check to a player so they go to a certain school was never what I thought would happen

[u/Solesky1 → u/fighting_gopher]

Maybe I’m not the norm but having people just write a check to a player so they go to a certain school was never what I thought would happen

Literally everyone knew that was what was going to happen. The NCAA finally ran out of legal recourses to stop it from happening and the boosters and bag man wanted exactly what we have now.

If you genuinely thought NIL would mean a player can get a couple grand from being in a local car dealer commercial without being kicked out of school instead of (gestures at the state of college athletics) I'm glad that someone still believes there's good in this world. Don't let that fire go out.

[u/fighting_gopher → u/Solesky1]

I guess I’m a little naive 😂

[u/PigScarf]

How are there not clawback clauses in every one of these deals? How are there not built in escalators that incentivize continuity and step ups for staying? 

Apart from putting a structure in place, it seems super naive that boosters are cutting these checks without any paperwork to keep them in place. 

[u/azwethinkweizm → u/PigScarf]

That's because these are essentially bribes. It's an unwritten rule that you honor the bribe or else your legs meet the barrel of a Louisville slugger. But you can't do that in 2025.

[u/reddit_names]

Ban NIL collectives in their entirety. 

Force all NIL negotiations to be directly between the athletes and advertisers. 

[u/[deleted]]

I don't blame him.

[u/shanty-daze]

Now Aikman knows how the Oklahoma booster who funded the bagman felt when Aikman transferred to UCLA.

[u/Uncle_Donnie → u/shanty-daze]

Didn't he get benched at OU? A bit before my time but I thought a freshman took his spot after he got hurt?

[u/shanty-daze → u/Uncle_Donnie]

He broke his ankle in the middle of the 1985 mNC season and left the for UCLA the next year.

[u/keylime503]

Ah, so this is how we randomly got Dante Moore for a year. Thanks Troy!

(the latter is something Dante failed to say)

[u/LGWalkway]

I’ve said it since NIL was made legal, but there’s no ROI on NIL.

[u/BlueRFR3100]

If I were rich and was donating money to my favorite school, I would be donating to the school, not a particular player.

Maybe that's why I'm not rich.

[u/bjbc → u/BlueRFR3100]

If I was rich, I would not be donating to organizations already have millions of dollars to throw around, but that's just me.

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/BlueRFR3100]

I’d want my name on a building. 

[u/katarh → u/Inconceivable76]

My fav example of that is Alabama's visiting team locker room being named The Fail Room.

[u/moby323]

There was always a story in Clemson that Danny Ford bought Herschel Walker a car and Walker went to UGA anyway.

Apparently it pissed people off because “back in my day, when you bought a player they stayed bought”

[u/Patagawa]

Damn I remember having to write thank you letters for scholarships of just a couple hundred bucks back when I was in school. Kind of wild that these kids get so much more in NIL and don't even have to say thank you

[u/[deleted]]

I’m not a lawyer, but I have to take annual training for my company on how bribery and facilitation payments are illegal. And I’m struggling to understand how the current scheme isn’t precisely that.

[u/[deleted]]

There is nothing about these 'nil' deals that are actually NIL.      These are simply pay to play and if it's pay to play then these 'students' should have to pay back any funds they were given if they leave.      

NIL is a good thing.    Pay to play is not.    

Like, these deals don't even typically include  autograph sessions or shit like that.  That's the bare minimum to be name, image or likeness related  They are not NIL deals.      Allowing a kicker to have a YouTube channel and to make money from it and donations is great.   That was the spirit of NIL 

Also, anyone getting paid to play should be required  to pay their tuition and not be eligible for a scholarship 

Getting paid hundreds of thousands or million and still having. The tax payers of each state (for non private schools) fund your ' education' is ridiculous 

[u/halldaylong → u/[deleted]]

I know for UCLA football and basketball, they do force the players to fulfill some task in order to get paid (usually an exclusive interview with a fan site or make an appearance at an event) because our athletic department is so rigid in following the NCAA rules. Funny enough, Aikman is almost definitely talking about NIL for Dante Moore who refused to fulfill any aspect of the contract to get the money and it caused a big issue with the NIL collective

[u/Run_PBJ]

This is more of a problem with the transfer portal than it is NIL. Open free agency every year is BAD bad.

I think you should get 1 transfer, after that you lose a year of eligibility just like the old rules

[u/GermOrean]

It's almost like we need this thing that outlines expectations - perhaps a written agreement for time played and money received. A contract if you will.

[u/chebbys]

Poor UCLA. They are probably at the top of California schools on the “can’t get their shit together” list.

[u/theflintseeker → u/chebbys]

*** AHEM ***

[u/R00k85]

Won't someone please think of the billionaires..

[u/SecretSquritle]

Didn’t this goober take a bag and transfer himself lol

[u/slappythepimp]

I don’t see why anybody would fund it.