You gotta feel bad for every college football star who came and went prior to the name, image and likeness (NIL) era. My goodness… has the NCAA landscape ever changed.
Exhibit A: Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Imagine the dough, say, Johnny Manziel would be raking in if he were carving up SEC defenses nowadays. In the midst of Johnny Football’s Heisman Trophy run and into his sophomore season, Texas A&M received $740 MILLION in donations and pledges. That’s hard to even wrap your mind around.
That Netflix documentary about JFF, his poor work ethic, self-destructive tendencies and so forth don’t exactly leave you feeling bad for him. But I mean… the guy would’ve been set for life if NIL were around in his heyday.
Back to Shedeur Sanders, though. The fact that he only continues to see his NIL value rise means he must be sticking around to see through one more season at the collegiate level. That’s not to assert that Shedeur would run from competition and the ultra-loaded 2024 NFL Draft quarterback class. Thing is, there’s already scuttlebutt that he wants to be the No. 1 overall pick, which simply won’t happen when you’re in the same prospective class as reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.
Speaking of the USC superstar, Williams checks in at third on the richest NIL valuations behind only Shedeur and Texas’ Arch Manning. What do you know, coming from a legendary football family helps you score the big bucks before you even take a snap in college. Arch is behind another former No. 1 overall recruit on the Longhorns’ QB depth chart, Quinn Ewers, who skipped his final year of high school to redshirt at Ohio State in part because of a seven-figure NIL deal.
The NIL is an absolute Wild West of millions upon millions of dollars flying around all over the place. I don’t think I knew the full gravity of NIL when it first became or just how much money players could make. Shedeur Sanders is breaking through whatever ceiling there was and, it stands to reason, will only continue to raise it.
A big reason behind Shedeur’s visibility and raging financial success is his social media presence. This video is a thing of beauty — Shedeur laughing at “overrated” chants from Arizona State fans before he rips their hearts out on a game-winning drive:
The hype around Colorado and the massive benefits Shedeur is reaping in wouldn’t be present if he wasn’t an exceptional quarterback.
At the end of the day, it’s about ball and whether or not you can ball. Shedeur Sanders can most definitely ball. He is a baller. So what if he’s a little cocky? If you can back it up, go for it. And he most certainly can.
It’ll only fuel the fire and help his NIL earnings spike as long as he continues to play well.
Shedeur should embrace the chance to boost his stock for the 2025 draft by staying at Colorado. The money alone is b-a-n-a-n-a-s bananas.
Never mind the multitude of other reasons, not least of which is playing for his father, Deion. Coach Prime should be able to recruit some much-needed offensive line help for his son, and you can bet plenty of high-caliber defensive players will want to come play in Boulder due to the program’s exposure and complementary dynamic offense. Figures to be another hella active transfer portal SZN for Coach Prime and his staff.
By playing one more season on the college gridiron, Shedeur would also have the chance to throw to two-way receiver/cornerback dynamo Travis Hunter, who’s been injured of late. Imagine Hunter and Shedeur with another full year and offseason of shared development and chemistry. Then if the pass protection makes meaningful strides in 2024, and Shedeur can continue to progress in his own right/get rid of the ball a little quicker? HOO. Look out.
PS: How wild is it that Travis Hunter has played less than three games at the FBS level and is already a multi-millionaire? WHAT. Can’t wait to see him hit the field again. What a talent. Funny enough, if Shedeur does want to hear his name called first on draft night in 2025, his biggest competition might be his best buddy teammate.
Say a non-QB needy team has the No. 1 pick. Would be pretty hard to pass on Hunter, especially if he can play both ways on Sundays.
