The Truth About NIL: What Every Athlete & Parent Needs to Know

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2:24but keeping your money boring is what helps you live a more happily fulfilled life. PNC Bank, brilliantly boring since 1865. Brilliantly boring since 1865 is a service mark of the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. PNC Bank, National Association, member FDIC. A lot of times people think NIL and they're thinking of like the most high level player in the world and somebody that's getting$5 million. But explain how players are getting NIL deals that you've never heard of. Players that, like you said, a fourth round draft pick that's getting a million dollars. Or players getting$30 ,000 from a mid-major or a low-major D1.

3:05Set that level of expectation. Because I think that that's something that a lot of people could relate to. And they might not be aware that you can still get money in the NIL world, even if you're not a household name. And like I said, all you guys can chime in on that. Okay, you want me to start? Tiny, you want to start? Yeah, I was just talking about that the other day. There's a kid at Radford University that's getting$700 ,000. So, and these are facts. So, what I say to the youth is that, and parents, it was a time when people used to say, don't put your eggs in one basket. Sports matters.

3:50It matters a lot. It's taking kids from high school to become entrepreneurs. Like, we don't need the NBA anymore, which is the organization. We need parents to really focus on that sports can make a huge difference. And I'm not saying, you know, it's the all and be all. But because of my life has been, you know, help with sports, I think that's very important. So like he was saying, you don't have to be the McDowell American. You don't have to be the starting five on your high school team. You stay with it, and you can benefit from NIL, which is excellent. There's NIL, which is a real NIL, which is what it was originally made for, where you can actually go out there and get a brand endorsement deal where you promote a brand or create a partnership with a brand and you get paid for that.

4:49The number two way is from collectives. Colleges now have created, since this inception, they created collectives which are not run by the school at first. It was run by boosters, which is alumni, and they came in and they set up partnerships for you. And it was kind of hidden pay for play, but that was the way they disguised it in marketing brands. The third way now, which came into play July 1st through Congress, is called revenue share. And now schools can pay you directly from their funds. And that, for the most part, is pay for play. So those are the three ways you can get paid. And with the revenue share, schools can pay up to$22 million.

5:40They have a budget. They're allowed to use up to$22 million. for college rev share, and that's for their whole budget, for all their teams. For the most part of that, football is going to get the biggest part if they have football. Every school has a different percentage, but it has to be broken down, and that's the way – those are the three ways they can pay a college athlete. Yeah, and football is going to get the most because football is making the most money when you talk about rev share. But I guess to answer your question, kids can make a significant amount of money in college, and it's not just a high D1 level, the Power 5 level.

6:22You know, you've got kids at mid-major level making$100 ,000,$250 ,000 a year. That's more than some of these kids' families make. So college sports is actually a serious, serious business, and it's very important that these kids get the right advice and have the right team around them. I did a deal for a kid making$500 ,000 who might not even start at college. If you could do that for four or five years, you would have made more money than some kids' parents would have made in a lifetime. So you can't just, you know, gloss over this, what's happening and what's going on. It's serious business and it's serious money.

7:03So you are a lawyer. You draw up contracts. And you actually just educate me backstage. all of you guys as far as NIL deals, they're not all the same. I thought it was like a standard scholarship, right, where you sign the scholarship papers, all the scholarship papers are the same. So you're negotiating NIL deals, right? So what's some things to look out for, and what's some things to add, what's some clauses, like what's some things to be aware of? Greg, you can answer that as well. Well, I'll start off by saying this. The colleges now are going to a pro model. It's pro sports. If you Google and look what's going on, all these schools, starting at the top, they're hiring people from pro teams, basketball and football.

7:44Most Power Five schools now, football and basketball, I'll say about 80 % of them have what you call the general manager. We, you know, we're supposed to have Daniel Abrams, which is, that's his position at Boston College basketball. He couldn't make it today, but they hire those guys and some of these schools also have cap guys, which is the salary cap. So their jobs between those two guys, they manage the roster, roster construction, and they manage the portal acquisitions, and they talk with the agents. So when you're hiring people to talk with agents, their job is to do school-friendly deals to make sure they protect that money for the school.

8:25Same way if you're with the New York Jets, their job is to make sure that they benefit from the contract. So when you have that and you may have somebody that's negotiating for you that does not have the experience of someone like a lawyer or an agent, now you're putting yourself at a disadvantage. So I do NFL contracts. We deal with a collective bargain agreement and most of those contracts, the template is the same. One thing that we're going to negotiate is of course the amount of money and some of the language. When you're dealing with a college you're dealing with over 300 something different Division 1 schools.

9:08I haven't seen the same contract yet. Every contract is different and every contract is different. So their job is to protect the money for the University of Maryland. So trust me when they have somebody come in and they might say oh it's the dad that they realize the dad has no experience in negotiating and all that they will love they love that they will try to take advantage of you yeah especially if they try to get the kid I want to one point that you made earlier so a lot of kids you know they'll have their friend or a family member represent them there's not necessarily that they have the bad intention it's just they don't have the the experience or the knowledge or the acumen to make sure that you're doing what's in the best interest of the athlete, the student athlete.

9:58So there's a lot of different things that could be in agreement with the university. How the money is paid out, which can be tricky. Kid could say, college coach say, hey, you come to my school, I'm gonna pay you$250 ,000 to play. There could be provisions in there if the kid plays that year, you know, if he's not red shirt. It could be how the money is broken down. some schools are paying monthly, some schools will try to back end the money so that if the kid enters the portal then the payments stop right away. I mean some of this is technical but that's why you should get a lawyer to review the agreement because there could be different provisions in there or conditions in there that could prevent the kid from actually getting the money or all the money that the kid signed up to go to that university for.

10:45I'm gonna to add to that. So let's go down a little level. Let's go down before you get to that level. I'm on a high school level, right? And recently, I've seen contracts of kids with NIO deals that's still in high school. So all you guys that's still in high school, you know, you have a chance to benefit. But it's tricky and it's dangerous. What I'm trying to say is this. There's a lot of people, what I call the BAC, the Bad Advice Crew, they will forward you your NIO deal. Say you're the top sophomore in the country. They'll give you$100 ,000. They'll get it back from the colleges. So you're not really in the money coming out your pocket, in the money coming out their pocket, but now they got you tied down.

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13:35we have another legendary high school coach in here too coach Cimino appreciate him coming what's your advice for young people as far as how they're managing their brands on social media some of the things that you've you're seeing currently you coached the Nike elite team that some I spoke to the guys when you were there so like what are you seeing from the the grassroots level right now in 2025 that can either be helpful or harmful for young people um yeah that's that's that's deep. I went to this school back in the 90s and we didn't have the social media that we had now so it was totally different but what I am seeing is two things you know I believe social media is probably you know one of the worst things and the best thing that happened to us as a community.

14:21The kids are becoming a little bit more professional. They are becoming entrepreneurs but they take the integrity out of the game. It's impossible for you to make every shot, to play good all the time. So that's not the reality of it. So the social media part is really, I believe, taking the integrity out of the game. But I also feel that the high school coaches got to be more of just being the X and O guy. They really got to get involved. because social media do matters. And if you're a coach that don't want to get involved with the social media, you're not really trying to help the kid go to the next level or phases.

15:05So it's a give and take. And I think, you know, I go back to the parents. I go back to the mentors, the high school coaches, the grassroots people. It's gotta be a collective teamwork. This is called grassroots for a reason. that's not about the high school coach it's about the whole community understanding that there's a chance of us you know benefiting so Matt let me ask you as far as I'm a good player in high school right I'm averaging 17 points and I'm getting recruited by a bunch of mid-major schools right now do I go to Do I go to an agent like Greg? Do I go to a lawyer like yourself? Do I go to both?

15:57Like who do I contact first? That's a good, good question. And we could probably go spin around for this. So hopefully as a high school athlete, I'm doing well in high school. Hopefully I'm affiliated with a good grassroots mentor, coach organization that's going to help guide me, that has experienced, guide, and other players. Those are questions that parents, we should ask, and the reason why I could jump into this is because I have a kid that's going through this now too. You want to see the organizations or the school that your kid is playing for or participating in, what's their history, what's their track record?

16:33What other kids have they successfully helped matriculate through college or, you know, everybody's not going to make it to the league. So, you know, those are the things that I look for, like what kids went through that program. But for me, I think a lawyer, I mean, I'm biased, but I think a lawyer is a critical part of the team for any family making any decisions. Because once contracts are involved, you need to make sure somebody is going to fully advise you and explain every provision that's in there and don't take things for granted. The agent is probably more so important in college basketball than ever before.

17:11Somebody like a Greg, because now kids are entering the portal after one year, going to another school to get more money. As a lawyer, I'm not in that world every day to know what college is looking for, a point guard or a running back or a quarterback. An agent is probably way more versed at helping a kid just navigate his way through college before you even get to the pros because now you got the portal that's helping kids go to school and get paid more money than what they did when they came out of high school. But I think it's a whole collective of team. You know, the person they trust from the grassroots, the lawyer that's going to advise you and the family and the parents, the agent that you can trust.

17:52And it's kind of like a checks and balances, you know. You don't want the agent putting something in front of you that you don't understand either. You know, that's my two cents. Greg, talk about the portal because we're seeing kids that's transferring every year. And it's even crazier than the NBA or NFL because at least you have to stay with your team for a certain amount of years unless you get traded. But this is like everybody in the NBA has a one-year contract. That's how crazy it would be, right? So you have hundreds of thousands of kids that's transferring every single year, even if it's not a bad situation just because they can get more money.

18:27So how do you advise players in the portal as far as, like, making the right decision and what's your process as far as making sure you're in tune with all of the general managers to see, like, you know, what's going on in the world? Good question. Every situation is different. Some kids, you don't want to move. You may think the grass is greener on the other side. Brown grass might be brown grass. If you're moving, what you also got to take into account is, and also they're already trying to review that and switch that rule. Not switch it, but they're trying to go back to the one-time transfer rule in the portal, which I think makes a lot of sense.

19:06You got a lot of these guys, you know, you might be getting$200 ,000 from one school. you want to jump into the portal and try to get 250. You got some guys now on average, you're going to have kids that have four schools on their resume. Where are you going back for homecoming? I mean, that's number one. Number two, all these credits aren't transferring. Coach from this school is going to have you eligible to play for those years. However, when you go across the bridge and you try to get that business degree, Some of those credits, if you're at Morgan and you come from a lower school like Howard, I'm just messing with my man right here, and your credits might not transfer over.

19:52But now you get out of there in four years, you think you're graduating, but you're not. Now you look, you probably got another year and a half, another three semesters. So that's one thing I'm trying to tell the kids. I would never try to advise a kid to move just for some money, unless maybe it's some life-changing money, or it's a situation where you're a quarterback and this system's not working for you, but, you know, you look like you have pro potential, and I'm telling you to go in this offense. They want you, and I know what they got there, and I know where you will be on the depth chart.

20:25I think that's the advantage of going with, that's the difference in sometimes going with an agent versus a lawyer. You know what the Lamar Jackson syndrome is, right? the athlete that says, I don't need an agent, I'm going to have my mom represent me because I'm going to save the 5 % that I'm going to pay the agent, and I'm going to do it that way. Jalen Brown, too. Yeah, okay, so it wasn't 5%. You're saving 3%, but let this go viral. He did not do the contract, all right? Mark Levin from the NFLPA did the contract. I mean, she did not do the contract. She's not a certified agent. Teams in the NFL cannot negotiate with anybody unless they're a certified agent.

21:02So that's number one. And I'm not knocking him, but he played well enough to establish himself to say, listen, I'm just going to have somebody from the PA help me with this contract. They are not up to doing that for 1 ,500 players or whatever amount of players in the NFL. So if you're elite like that, then that's fine. You can do that. The average guy cannot do that. I wouldn't recommend it for them. going into free agency and trying to find out which of these 32 teams is going to pay him the most and better fit him. If you're not certified and if you're representing yourself, you know what they say, you know, you represent yourself as a lawyer.

21:42You got a fool for a client. I would just add to that, just that there's so many examples in this because I don't want to like start bad mouthing athletes. There's so many examples of athletes that have, that could have benefited from having an agent or a better agent. Like that have made moves that have cost them millions and millions of dollars. I think the value of the agent comes from is somebody that knows the business, knows the landscape, that can help you navigate. Because yeah, the NFL has boilerplate, they have a collective bargaining agreement. NBA has a collective bargaining agreement.

22:17There's only so much money you're going to make depending on where you're drafted, what your position is, what your level is. That part is fair. So from an athlete saying it's already determined what I'm going to make, I get that. But what about when it's time to get traded or free agency and moving around? You can't pay for the value of an agent that has relationships and connections to talk to owners and managers and help you navigate that. And now that's trickling down into college and even into high school. So that's the value to me. And, like, for example, in the NFL, we was back there, and Tani saw me looking at my phone.

22:59He's like, we missed some games. But what I mainly do on a Sunday, I'm looking at stats. But the other main thing I'm looking at, unfortunately, is the injury report. Because if a player gets injured, now I have to manage them through that situation. I had a cornerback I represent on the Arizona Cardinals just right now. Last week he got hurt. He got back in the locker room. I called the GM, and they said it looking like the ACL. All right, well, as soon as you got to get the MRI, send it to me. I'm sending it to what is called a second opinion that's not affiliated with the team. Sending it down to a second opinion.

23:34Turns out it's a grade three MCL, only eight weeks, where the team was automatically assuming he was going to be out for the season. so that's not something you can do if you're representing yourself so managing the athlete is more than just negotiating the contract if he's unhappy he's talking to the team and the personnel can we move him should we move him what is really going on if he's fine i gotta go and do an appeal on tuesdays i gotta sit on the phone and do appeal he was he was um fined for having the wrong color socks in the nfl that's something you cannot do i don't think you can do if you're you know a plumber or hvc you know if you're doing something else not knocking those professions but that's what we get paid to do is managing the athlete so it's more than just negotiating the contract after the athletes stop stop playing what are the i guess best prospects to get them seeing themselves as a brand and how they can build intellectual property and have longevity in their name, image, and likeness.

24:39It's trickling down. So now in high school, if you're getting paid, you should invest in your future. In high school. So like we was talking about, a guy can make money at the age of 20, money in life insurance, some money somewhere for 20 years. So it got to trickle down. Those are the conversations that got to start earlier. Having a sports school is probably our best route right now. I think the financial advisor piece is probably the most important piece right now for these kids in college Because we already know the majority of the kids are not going to make it to the league So they got four or five years where they're making 250, 300, 500 ,000 some of them a million dollars And that might be it, you know, I mean besides whatever they do after that But if they have the right financial person involved in them that has helped them invest it and it's not just the whip and the chains and they actually got some solid investments like that those are the success stories that I would love to start hearing and the financial person is probably the most important part.

25:45I think also just building your brand while you're still in college too like Shiloh Sanders I think is a great example of that not the not the best player in the world but got a great personality and so when he does get cut I don't know if he got cut I don't know if he'll be able to get another shot but he's not desperate like he's already making content he already has a social media following i think he's going to do good as far as like his brand has already been built and he was building that brand through college yeah so i think planting that seed especially if you if you already have some level of emotion some personality social media gives you a great platform to kind of already brand yourself so even if it doesn't work out for you at least you have a springboard what if mind control is real if you can control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have?

26:29Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, aka neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This show contains information subject to, but not limited to personal takes, rumors, not so accurate stats, and plenty more.

27:11What's up, man? This your boy, Nell Green from the Broken Play Podcast. Look, it's the end of the season. The playoffs are here. But guess what? It ain't the end of your season. You can always tune in with Broken Play Podcast with Nav Green on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Not a team who ain't going to the playoffs. The Chief. It's time to rebuild. Listen to Broken Play with Nav Green from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know Roald Dahl. He thought up Willy Wonka and the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? In the new podcast, The Secret World of Roald Dahl, I'll tell you that story and much, much more.

27:48What? You probably won't believe it either. Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. I was a spy. Listen to The Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A man with Down syndrome tries the impossible, the grand slam in turkey hunting. Four 53 hits, we're legal shooting light. And he gives us this one last test. And he pitches off. And when he pitches off, he flies right into the gun barrel. I said to the cameraman, do you have him? He said, shoot him. I said, Justin, shoot.