Boston College Wide Receiver Zay Flowers Lands Major NIL Deal
Eagles wide out takes advantage of new NIL rules with local car dealership
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Zay Flowers NIL Deal
- Thread starter AJBlack_BC
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New BMW for Zay, and our exclusive interview!
I think this is a pretty big deal as I haven't heard of any athlete in my area of the country getting anything like this -- yes, we have the highly rated 5-stars getting these unbelievable deals, but Zay is not yet considered to be on that level -- I know this is a BC alumni owned dealership, but I can see it helping sell BC to a 4 star that is considering coming here.
Gasson 305
Active member
Good for Zay, and let's hope he has a place to park his new car on campus!
I wonder what the tax treatments are on NIL deals both cash and in-kind gifts? They would have to be grossed-up for taxes. This could have been structured as a lease as opposed to a straight up gift. Who pays his insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs?
Good for Zay. A big payday, but where does it end? Boosters from big programs can essentially hire the talent their school needs. I know there is a distinction between boosters paying players and schools paying them. But, I am not sure it is a distinction with a difference. Why not just let schools hire players directly?
Gasson 305
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Gasson 305
Active member
If you hire athletes, they become employees as opposed to enrolled student-athletes. The schools wanted to avoid employee arrangements.
I discussed this with a family that owns several dealerships and they suggested that this deal may be similar to those offered to radio personalities where the dealership advertises. Probably, it it would be a lease and small salary to pay for insurance -- then either a leaser return or balloon payment when Say receives his first Pro contract -- but who knows??? In this case, the athlete is an independent contractor not an employee.
Gasson, I get that. My point is the result is the same. Give it 5 years and college football will be unrecognizable. Don't expect us to compete with what SEC boosters can pay. Right now, the transfer portal is filled with kids who want more playing time. In 5 years, it will be stars lured away in "free agency". Georgia needs to fill a slot at wide receiver? Just double Zay's "salary".
I think most folks are against hiring athletes and putting out professional teams rather than teams with student athletes. That was at the heart of what Dabo Swinney was just issuing his concerns about. If you hire athletes, then you can fire them at will. And he even wondered if firing isn't being done implicitly by informing the athlete that he or she does not fit into the plans of the program any longer. I would like to see all universities who offer a scholarship to a student athlete guarantee that student will have a chance to graduate from that university provided he remains a matriculating and qualified student -- unless the athlete, of his own accord, decides to leave. This is also one of the reasons, Dabo wants a new super conference, so that rules and guidelines can be developed for the Power Five and similar programs that match the needs. I agree with him that, left alone, this brave new world of college athletics could implode -- much to the detriment of the student/athlete. Only a tiny percentage of athletes make it in the pros and a Boston College degree is something worth obtaining.
Gasson 305
Active member
Actually, there is a good test case for what you are describing. The player who would likely “sell-out” to a higher bidder is Deion Sanders’ 5-star recruit, Travis Hunter, CB, Class of 2022, Jackson State.
It's possible that an SEC school like Texas A&M, or a National Championship contender (Alabama LSU) for that matter, would bring a crazy offer of cash, a condo, and a car to get a playmaker to transfer. You may be right, and if that is what happens, college football spins out of control, or until private donor money dries up.
While I agree that this could certainly happen -- there has already been discussion of Sanders for coaching vacancies and some aver that his best players will follow him if he leaves to coach a major school. Look at what happened at Saint Peters when its coach switched over to Seton Hall. Also, BC has some very rich alumni -- but most have shown an interest in donating to improve academics rather than athletics. What will happen if one of the folks like Musk decides he wants to "sponsor" a team from the college of his choice. It isn't just the wealthy SE conference folks who can change the landscape -- it is anyone with money and willing to spend it on the college of his or her choice. If a private citizen informs an athlete that BC is pursuing that they will pay him or her if the athlete chooses to go to BC, and the prospect meets the academic requirements of BC (if, in fact, BC even knows about the agreement between the sponsor and prospect), the school cannot prevent it. Many companies will pay for employees to attend college and get a degree while they are employed. All of these types of situations could lead to serious problems without any controls -- The NCAA had a chance to fix this and put its head in the sand -- Athletes obtain agents to ensure they are protected and get the best deal -- does this mean that all high school athletes who may be offered college scholarships will have to have agents to protect them -- and what about ethics -- what will the athlete be required to do to keep that sweet deal -- there are just so many road bumps. College sports are at crossroads -- and it is a very precarious one.
Gasson 305
Active member
Thank you for writing a very comprehensive analysis. One more thing, what happens to a player’s NIL deal if the player is benched, is determined to be academically ineligible to play, or cannot play due to injury? I wonder if these deals (or “contracts”) also include a remedy for a player's non-performance?
Scholarships kids are always an unknown quantity -- Some come in as threes and become ALL-Pros; some never see much playing time. One never knows the heart of these kids until they reach college and are playing with all kids who were great in HS. The reason Hafley is going to the high schools with reputations --not because they are better -- but because the competition to play is so much more intense. Let me make my point with my son -- (he did not play college sports, but I think I can demonstrate my post with his experience). He was always be best athlete in his small parochial school class -- always the first one chosen -- always the best kid on the field or floor -- always carrying home trophies in all the sports. My wife and I constantly had to push him with is studies and he would argue that he was going to play professional sports -- then we moved to Texas. Instead of 300 kids, his school had 4000 boys all competing for starting positions. Instead of being the best -- he quickly saw that in all the sports, he was just a good athlete. I always thought it must be like when kids go to orientation at Harvard and are all told the first day that 60% of them will be getting C's. Sitting on the bench as he did and seeing how much more talented the other boys were -- and realizing the commitment he had to make to even make the team was the best thing that ever happened to our son -- be began to take his studies as seriously as my wife and I hoped, and it turned his life around. Another factor is that some kids always were the best because of their natural talent -- and never had to work and work and work just to get a tiny bit better -- or kids who were never away from the support system that had in their homes. The reasons go on and on -- but especially, there is the great possibility that the kid was never as good as the coaches thought or that his talents do not match the coaching style. I think BC has only has one or two 5 rated football recruits -- but it has sent many of its players to the aNFL. I also read where over 60% of the NFL players do NOT come from the Power Five schools. So, there is plenty of risk when recruiting a player. What is the main danger is that a coaching staff can blame the kids for lack of success and take away that scholarship for any reason.
So the question of what happens to the NIL agreement if the player doesn't play goes to exactly the reasons for some sort of player protection. LSU just paid Brian Kelly 100 million for one reason to bring a NC quickly and emulate the success of Alabama. That is is mission and he needs the very best kids to do so -- I certainly think he is a great coach, but he is not Nick Sabin. He will have to do it with the bet athletes. I cannot imagine he will keep scholarships of kids who do not help him in that quest. I also do not think LSU will get upset if he takes a scholarship away from an athlete who does not perform to find a better one in the portal.
If I were a being recruited I would require a contract that assures that I will be on scholarship for the normal time it takes to earn a degree.
So the question of what happens to the NIL agreement if the player doesn't play goes to exactly the reasons for some sort of player protection. LSU just paid Brian Kelly 100 million for one reason to bring a NC quickly and emulate the success of Alabama. That is is mission and he needs the very best kids to do so -- I certainly think he is a great coach, but he is not Nick Sabin. He will have to do it with the bet athletes. I cannot imagine he will keep scholarships of kids who do not help him in that quest. I also do not think LSU will get upset if he takes a scholarship away from an athlete who does not perform to find a better one in the portal.
If I were a being recruited I would require a contract that assures that I will be on scholarship for the normal time it takes to earn a degree.