The portal and NIL will be the slow Demise of Clemson football and all

76er®

CU Medallion [65414]

TigerPulse: 100%

Posts: 33245

Joined: 12/3/03

And, the NCAA just threw up their hands and said "UNCLE"

Dec 7, 2021, 6:17 PM

about it, making not even a pretense of regulating it. Even though it is the VERY thing that they fought tooth and nails against for years, with sanctions, reduced scholarships, even the Death Penalty in the case of SMU.

If even a WHIFF of boosters paying players in any form could be proven, coaches lost jobs, teams had victories expunged, players got eligibility taken away. But now, suddenly, with only an amateur amount of shading, ALL IS FAIR GAME!

Linemen at Texas will now get $50,000 a pop. PER YEAR. So, some other school will shortly up that ante, in an only slightly different form. They will have to. The former "Arms Race" is now a BANK RACE. And, just like I and several others have already pointed out recently, it is one that Clemson ultimately cannot win. We do not have the ammunition or the guns of most of these "Major" programs in that regard. Yes, for the umpteenth time, I know that the money for NIL is not coming from the schools. It comes from businesses who want their brand associated with the players of that school. In other words, the alumni and the fanbases. We don't have us a Phil Knight or a Jeff Bezos.

Just let this sober thought sink in for a moment. If Phil Knight REALLY wanted to, he could kill college football tomorrow. All he would have to do is offer multi-million dollar NIL deals to every player that is willing to sign on the dotted line, and commit to at least 3 years of football at Oregon. There is literally NOTHING, other than his own fancy, to stop him from doing that right now.

These Texas Oilmen banding together to hurl $50,000 a year en masse at offensive linemen is just the first volley in this war.

And the same Congress and court system that pretty much forced NIL down our throats just sits on their collective ar$es now and does nothing to save the greatest amateur team sport of all time. They should all be drawn and quartered. Shame on them.