a starter but he gets some time here and there. So, not a bench warmer either. I had a very interesting conversation with my friend. He was very grateful for the situation both his son in law and his daughter are in since his SIL no longer has to find a "job" to support his family. This is good. He told me, and justified, that with all the practices, weight training, team meetings, etc., etc, that IS his full time job. Fair enough (although I think every student-athlete puts in the same amount of time or more and doesn't get a penny of NIL monies). I asked him what his specific NIL was. He said, nothing. He just gets the money. I also asked him about the Ram deal. He told me that they went into Ken Garff and they gave him TWO vehicles. So, he got a truck and then his wife got a car for free as well.

The intention of NIL was to reward the use of a person's Name Image and Likeness and not get shut down by the NCAA. However, it seems to have already morphed into a pay day for athletes who rarely have their Name, Image or Likeness used at all. Call it a money grab. Call it a job. Call it a bribe to come to a particular program. Call it whatever you want but NIL is not really NIL (with the exception of a few elite athletes). It's like a scholarship plus (whatever they are willing to give an athlete).

An 18 year old QB who has potential to be a big time player gets offered a million to just come play at a school does not equate to a true value of what he currently is. Even at the pro level, in 99% of the cases, a player is drafted based on what he has demonstrated on the court/field. Even that is a risk for a team. I don't think a high school kid has really shown much to deserve that kind of money. The argument that he has 100k followers on Instagram doesn't seem to be a true way to measure and justify that kind of money.

IMHO, it's ruining college sports. It's the "haves" and the "have nots." Big schools will continue to crush the smaller schools in this "new world of sports" that we are constantly told we just "need to accept."