In 2005, the NCAA stripped away Heisman trophy winner USC, running back Reggie Bush’s accolades, accomplishments, and trophies due to one of college sports’ biggest debates and scandals. Though harsh, the NCAA sought to send a message to all college athletes and companies informing them of their punishments and perspectives on using NIL deals. Nevertheless, a new modern approach to the freedom and prosperity of these young entrepreneurs has shed new light on the future of NIL deals. 

In simple terms, NIL deals are college student athletes’ ability to promote and profit from their self-image. NIL comes from the acronyms name, image, and likeness. NILs often come from. In these deals, players give companies and businesses the freedom to publicize their involvement in sports. In exchange, the player gains a profit or incentive from the business’s earnings. Nevertheless, since the introduction of college sports and advertisements, the ability to sign these deals as a college student was forbidden under no circumstances. 

This decision might make you turn your head and question the NCAA’s perspective on limiting young athletes from promoting and making a profit from themselves. One of the most significant aspects of this decision is the NCAA’s fear of creating a heavily uneven and money-powered sport. By allowing businesses and corporations to compensate these young athletes, many high school students will steer toward colleges that will grant them more opportunities and promotions to gain profit. As a result, a butterfly effect will occur in colleges attempting to “pay off” top prospects to join their sports programs. 

Nebraska women’s basketball player Shiloh McCool stated, “One other negative effect would simply be a time-management issue. Student-athletes are already typically busy between classes, practices, games, etc. Adding more work on their plate by making NIL deals could affect their school or sport if they do not manage their time and energy well.” 

The NCAA wanted to prioritize the well-being, academics, and potential professionalization of the players and game through their harsh NIL deals. However, when athletes who grew up starving in poverty rise to the national level of sports that gain attention from billion-dollar corporations, the dispute over NIL deals arises. 

In 2005, Reggie Bush, one of the biggest names in college sports history, won the Heisman trophy. After a thorough investigation by the NCAA, they discovered that Bush and his family had been accepting cash from marketing teams. In response, the NCAA has stripped Bush of all his football awards, records, and even Heisman trophy. Additionally, USC banned players from interacting and engaging with the program for ten years. 

After billboards across LA stating, “Hey NCAA… give Reggie Bush back his Heisman!” Bush said, “​​I did not create the situation; the NCAA created the situation. The fact that billboards have to get put up … that is on them,”

However, through countless disputes with athletes and corporations, as of 2021, the NCAA opened up athletes’ ability to sign and engage in these NIL deals. The deal created different NIL deal accessibility differences from state to state. Although the NCAA gave the players what they desired, the company opened a gate they needed help to close. This change will alter the course of college sports forever. 

Recently, College Football HQ wrote, “The NCAA will create standard terms for NIL contracts to ensure athletes are not taken advantage of by misleading expectations or terms from school collectives. It will also work with schools and collectives to distribute NIL data to create more market transparency.”

Bush emphasized, “I strongly believe that I won the Heisman trophy ‘solely’ due to my hard work and dedication on the football field…I never cheated on this game. That was what they wanted you to believe about me.” Reggie Bush is a single situation in several scandals where the NCAA dragged college athletes seeking money. A money-driven corporation that stripped thousands of athletes for decades of their ability to profit through entrepreneurship fought the American dream. Thousands of players who grew up in poverty seeking nothing more than to move their families were stripped of their capabilities to move their families because of the tyrant NCAA’s regulations. However, the freedom of the new modern age has sought out change and justice for the players who struggled for a brighter future.