College football is turning into more of a carnival as name, image and similarities quickly create a new frenzy of open-ended free agency.
The tone for the New World Order was set on Wednesday’s National Signature Day when Dion Sanders He mercilessly slammed the country’s top recruits, Travis Hunter, from his private college in Florida to his soccer program in Jackson State.
Unverified rumors began to circulate that Barstool Sports, where Sanders was a radio talent, paid Hunter a seven-figure contract to help get him to go to HBCU in Mississippi, an unheard of destination for hunter-caliber recruits.
Bruce Feldman, who has covered the upper echelons of college football for decades, Call Hunter’s decision to move from Florida to Jackson was “without a doubt” the biggest hiring surprise he’s ever seen.
Sanders called up his shot on Tuesday night, appearing on Barstool Sports’ “Unnecessary Roughness.” Wearing a Barstool hat, he told co-hosts Dave Portnoy, Dan Katz and Kayce Smith he would “shock the country.” He delivered spades.
Rumors swirled on social media that Barstool struck a seven-figure NIL deal with Hunter to seal the deal for Sanders. A relatively obscure investment Twitter account called BeanInvest has garnered more than 1,000 retweets with the aim of spreading this news.
Asked by The Post whether this rumor was true, Portnoy, founder of Barstool, said, “No comment.”
Quoting a source close to the Jackson State Program, Front Office Sports mentioned That rumor that Barstool has a zero deal with Hunter is “false.” Kharry Thompson, the Jackson State writer outperforms the Clarion Ledger writer, I also mentioned The Hunter-Barstool rumor is “incorrect”.
However, Portnoy appears to be acting as if the rumors are true. “#barstoolmillions #nil” Tweeted.
He also responded to a Twitter user complaining about Barstool doing a multimillion-dollar NIL deal with a gif of Mr. Krabs from “SpongeBob SquarePants” playing a fiddle with no sympathy.
Barstool has pre-existing NIL software. One can see why getting the attention of Hunter signing an endorsement deal would be a worthwhile endeavor for them. The country’s best recruits paired with Sanders’ charisma is a marketable formula.
NIL rules are very vague. Schools are technically not allowed to directly regulate payments to players. Everything is supposed to be a third party. Just last week, Miami and BYU football programs Came under NCAA investigation For the possibility of handling these deals incorrectly.
No sane person would think that these ultra-competitive coaches would get one iota of respect for the letters of this law, but they would have to walk a tightrope to avoid getting involved in anything that breaks the rules.
Unsurprisingly, the old guard at college football hates the new Wild West of NIL. Clemson coach Dabo Sweeney, who has won two national championships, lamented that there were about 2,000 college football players in the transfer portal and He said, “There is a lot of messing around and a lot of adults messing with young people.”
“Every Texas scholarship offensive line worker will get $50,000 a year with a new NIL deal,” former Auburn coach Gene Chesick chirp. Not to mention 200,000 educations. Americans are struggling to find jobs worth $50,000 to feed their children. Next is 100,000/player with no end in sight. Faulty system!!!! Most $$ wins! “
However, there is a chance that the NIL could actually better democratize college football, which in recent years has become increasingly oligopolistic. If the state of Jackson – the state of Jackson! – He could have the highest recruiting in the country, maybe this is all a drastic change.