The topic of NIL is once again commanding conversation.
This time around, it's through a recent Esquire piece called “NIL Goes to High School: Million-Dollar Teen Quarterbacks, Legal Battles, and Fast Cash,” where writer Abigail Covington explores the ins and outs of prep athletes now being able to profit from their name, image and likeness in most states, just like college stars. As of this summer, 44 states plus Washington, D. C., now allow high school athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness, with only a handful of schools, including Alabama and Ohio, electing not to participate.
Covington begins the piece chronicling 17-year-old Julian Lewis, who played high school football at Carrollton High School in Georgia, and is set to begin his collegiate career with the Colorado Buffaloes. The article explains how Lewis's beloved miniature dachshund, Coco, was seriously ill for a few days, but because Georgia allows high school students to make money off endorsements, Lewis could afford the $11,000 vet bill.
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The article notes how Lewis has been able to buy himself a Tesla Cybertruck, a Dodge Ram TRX, a Lamborghini Urus and a Darth Vader chain encrusted with black diamonds, which prompts the question of whether he would have been able to pay for these things without endorsement deals as a high school athlete. “No. Impossible,” he tells Covington, adding, "I mean, we weren’t poor, but we weren’t financially on the hierarchy of the earth. Definitely no big black chains."
As the caption on Esquire's Instagram post notes, while rules have changed regarding collegiate and high school athletes' ability to profit off their name, image and likeness, the rules haven't changed everywhere all at once. "Some blue-chip quarterbacks have the chance to become incredibly wealthy; others are forced to either move or turn down major financial opportunities," the caption explains. "Meanwhile, coaches and families scramble to navigate a newly monetized landscape that some experts say has the potential to undermine the entire academic enterprise as we know it."
Covington explores this topic more in her extensive article, which you can read in its entirety here.
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