Welcome to this new era of college football.
Obviously things are different these days, after in 2021 the Supreme Court cleared the way for college athletes to make money off of their name, image and likeness.
The result was an arms race, with schools rushing to build up NIL collectives to provide their athletes the opportunity to make money and hopefully entice the best players. While schools still can’t directly pay their players, there are “amateur” athletes making millions of dollars and getting fancy sports cars from donors and collectives in order for schools to recruit the best players.
And then there’s my alma mater, Marshall University, offering free all-you-can-eat biscuits. We Are…
But anyway, college football is more of a business now, so it was only a matter of time until we saw a dispute between a player and his team over NIL money. And apparently that time has come.
UNLV starting quarterback Matt Sluka, who transferred in this season as a grad student from Holy Cross, announced on Twitter that he would be redshirting the rest of the season to preserve his final remaining year of eligibility, apparently due to a dispute with the university over his NIL deal:
“I decided to utilize my redshirt year and will not be playing any additional games this season. I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld after I enrolled. Despite discussions, it became clear these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future. I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program.”
— Matthew Sluka (@MatthewSluka) September 25, 2024
This is especially interesting considering the UNLV Rebels are currently 3-0 and a favorite to secure the G5 spot in the College Football Playoffs.
Sluka has started all three games so far this season, completing 21 of 48 passes for 318 yards and six touchdowns with one interception this season.
He’s in his final year of NCAA eligibility, so redshirting now will give him the opportunity to transfer and play for one more year, and it sounds like that’s what he’s planning on doing after basically accusing the university of not paying him what they promised.
But the school is already pushing back on the allegations from Sluka, with a source saying that the quarterback has been paid what he was promised but that he’s now asking for more based on the team’s performance the first three games:
All financial commitments for UNLV QB Matthew Sluka were completely met.
But after wins against KU and Houston, Sluka’s family hired an agent and they collectively feel that his market value has increased, per source. pic.twitter.com/CKpjDNxMxK
— Carl Reed Jr. (@CoachReedLive) September 25, 2024
It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out, and what how UNLV performs the rest of the season now that they’ve lost their starting quarterback and their playoff hopes have taken a massive hit. It could be a costly loss if it keeps them out of the playoffs, with millions of dollars on the line for the school.
But over on Twitter, it seems that folks are divided on Sluka’s decision, with many accusing him of quitting on his team and teammates and others defending him after the school failed to pay him what he was promised:
You quit on your team man. That’s so weak. You gave a potential to ball out and make the playoff, and instead you sit down cause you’re mad about money. Feel bad for your teammates
— Doc Holliday (@cougjazzfan) September 25, 2024
He had a chance to take a g5 team to the playoff and UNLV who has little historical success could’ve taken them to new heights. But nope! NIL era money is more important to alot of guys…..
— Cam Heisman (4-0) (@CamHeisman) September 25, 2024
Would you keep going to your job if you showed up tomorrow and they said they were cutting your pay in half
Also part of your job is getting hit 5-25 times per week by 220-340 pound men running full speed at you
— drippy paul schrader malone (@homal0ne) September 25, 2024
Quitting on your 3-0 team for NIL money is sick work. You ruined your career with one move
— Tone From Da Concrete Jungle (@EmpireStateTone) September 25, 2024
Someone in your corner, telling you this is the move, didn’t do you any favors. Football is still a team sport. Instead of finishing the next two months, and transferring, you decide to quit on them? Not a UNLV fan, but sucks for those kids. No team is going to trust you now
— ChrisMD (@chrisrich316) September 25, 2024
College sports are becoming the land of entitled kids that have no respect for the team aspect of athletics. This is what everyone warned about regarding paying athletes.
NIL should definitely have a place in college sports but certainly not to this extent.
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) September 25, 2024
And honestly, I get both sides of it, especially for a player like Sluka, who’s probably not going to be playing in the NFL after college. His best chance to make the big bucks is right now, so he wants to get everything he can while he still has eligibility left.
But it feels kinda scummy to quit three games into the season when your team is, technically, still in the running for a national championship. Kinda devalues the whole college football system.
This may be the first time we’ve seen this kind of thing, but I definitely don’t think it’ll be the last.
