It’s no real secret to anybody who has been paying attention to the college football world over the past few years that the NCAA’s new name, image, and likeness rules have changed the sport, and it appears to have led schools to try to lure star players away from other programs with lucrative offers, like one Big Ten star describes.
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Maryland Terrapins star quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa claimed that he was offered $1.5 million from an unnamed SEC program to leave Maryland and join that program. Tagovailoa called the offers he received “crazy money” and made it clear that if he and his family had a different financial situation, he might have considered it.
“It can be eye-opening, but I think for my situation — if I was in a different situation where maybe I didn’t have a brother in the NFL or maybe my parents, it’d be a different situation,” Tagovailoa said.
It’s certainly an eye-opening offer, and the college football world had plenty to say about it on social media as many speculated about which school it was that tried to lure Tagovailoa away from Maryland.
Starting to spin my “Saban got turned down by a legacy and had to recruit Notre Dame’s third-best QB instead” narrative right now, he’s so cooked https://t.co/IEyKRrHHt4
— B1G_Ryan (@B1G_Ryan) July 29, 2023
And Auburn got Cam Newton for 180k. Steal of a lifetime. https://t.co/Rw8JBD2gZV
— Jake “JBOY” Crain (@JakeCrain_) July 28, 2023
I’d like to solve the puzzle.. https://t.co/T4tJbn3mLO pic.twitter.com/9PsyQeRC35
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) July 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/chris2turnt/status/1685041387987783681?s=20
And he is still at Maryland…..yeah "ok" https://t.co/Fxkdfj67Yt
— CFB Home (@CFBHome) July 29, 2023
1.5 milly but clearly there were no burgers included in the offer. Otherwise he’d be on his way to the SEC. https://t.co/TItApqkpxR
— Wolverine Chronicle (@WolverineChron) July 29, 2023
Tagovailoa could have had a big payday, but instead, he’s staying with Maryland for one more season.
