NIL (Name Image and Likeness) has been an issue since it began. In theory, it’s supposed to compensate players for their value on the athletics field of play. In practice, it can be used by schools to effectively “pay-for-play,” and it’s drawing scrutiny from a lot of people, including the U.S. government.
The University of Tennessee, the University of Florida, and Florida State are all either under investigation for rules violations regarding the NIL or have already been hit with sanctions by the NCAA.
Now, Tennessee is battling the NCAA in court because they feel they are being treated unfairly. The question is, even if they win, what good will that do?
The NCAA could have tried to do something a few years ago when NIL became legal but, as usual, didn’t understand their role in the everchanging college athletics landscape.
Meanwhile, when people like former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban brought it up, many accused him of whining, when in actuality he was warning us of what was about to happen.
“We have a rule right now that said you cannot use name, image, and likeness to entice a player to come to your school. Hell, read about it in the paper,” Saban said. “I mean, Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school. It was in the paper and they bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it.”
Both Jimbo Fisher and Deion Sanders were upset by the accusations and Saban later apologized, but he wasn’t wrong. Florida is in trouble with the NCAA now over its boosters offering a star quarterback millions to attend school there. The arrangement fell through and he went elsewhere. Tennessee also apparently made numerous violations around player compensation.
A lot of people have speculated that the reason Saban retired was because he got tired of dealing with NIL issues. He offered up a story recently of a kid who not only wanted money to play for Alabama but also wanted help getting his girlfriend into law school in Alabama.
Tennessee suing the NCAA probably won’t solve anything. The big question is where they and other schools go from here. And how will the NCAA (and Congress) react to this fast-moving situation to try and keep the playing field level?
