College athletics are turning into professional sports a bit more with the new “Name, Image, and Likeness” situation within the NCAA now where athletes are able to seek out their own marketing opportunities in order to make money as a student-athlete as well as even sign with an agency to handle their marketing opportunities.
So players are already receiving major dividends from the NIL clause the NCAA has installed, especially Alabama Crimson Tide sophomore quarterback Bryce Young who is allegedly closing in on a million dollars and he hasn’t even played a snap as the starter yet at Alabama!
According to his head coach Nick Saban who spoke at an annual convention of the Texas High School Coaches Association on Tuesday, he said, “Certain positions, probably, enhance opportunities to create value, like quarterback, and our quarterback (Young) already has approached ungodly numbers — I’m not going to say what they are — and he hasn’t even played yet. Hasn’t even started. It’s almost seven figures. And it’s like, the guy hasn’t even played yet. But that’s because of our brand.” (According to a story in The Athletic)
That Crimson Tide brand is the strongest one going in college football right now and holy cow, close to a million dollars for a teenager who hasn’t even taken a collegiate snap as a starter, it’s unreal but I’m happy that the kids are able to make money now rather than the Universities just profiting off of their talents and success.
As I said earlier kids are able to now sign with an agency to help facilitate deals for them and Young has signed one of the best agencies in the country to assist him in CAA.
With money comes expectation and for a 19-year-old that may be difficult to handle, especially now that the world knows how much money he’s been able to make. If he struggles early on there are going to be a lot of people getting on him about not only his play but whether or not he deserves the money he’s made off the field with NIL and for a kid with a huge social media following he’ll hear every piece of criticism that comes his way.
So, why did Nick Saban make this public knowledge? It’s pretty simple, recruiting. If he puts it out there that his starting quarterback is making near a million dollars in NIL money, that’s going to attract the best of the best talent in the country wanting to play QB at Alabama for the opportunity to make that type of money along with being the starting signal-caller for the Crimson Tide.
How good is Bryce Young? Well, Georgia QB JT Daniels, who played at the same high school as Young, spoke at SEC Media Day on Tuesday regarding Young and said, “He’s a stud. He’s a star player. When I had left Mater Dei, and they got Bryce, I had known Bryce since he was an eighth-grader, I was a seventh-grader. I knew back then that he was a special player. Honestly, when Mater Dei got him, I was excited.”
He would go onto say, “I told MaxPreps that he would be the best quarterback in the country by the time he was a junior in high school because I’d seen him play and I think he’s a really good player. I expect a lot of success for Bryce.”
That’s certainly some high praise from a fellow SEC quarterback who will be competing against Young for the top spot in the SEC in 2021.
Will Bryce Young be able to live up to the hype? Only time will tell…
Did you know…
Ohio State, Clemson, and Alabama will all have first year starters at QB.
CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, and DJ Uiagalelei are all from California, and played HS football within an hour of each other on the east side of LA.
(Assuming CJ Stroud wins the OSU job.) pic.twitter.com/pei2I8F5hh
— Mr. Ohio (@MrOH1O) July 12, 2021
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