Four Down Territory
Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a spin-off of Ten Thoughts.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. The Missouri NIL law is a high-risk, high-reward proposition.
Here is what the law says:
“A high school athlete shall have the right to earn or attempt to earn such compensation only after signing an athletic letter of intent or other written agreement to enroll in a postsecondary educational institution in this state.”
At first, like many people, when I saw the new NIL law, I thought it meant when in-state high school student-athletes commit to a Missouri-based university they could start getting NIL once they sign their letter of intent.
In the case of five-star SLUH wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who is expected to commit on what appears to be National Letter of Intent Day on Dec. 20, I thought he could start earning NIL money that day (if he signs with Mizzou).
However, the “after signing an athletic letter of intent or other written agreement to enroll in a postsecondary educational institution in this state,” part is something I overlooked.
The law goes into effect on Aug. 28.
So, to go off of Gabe’s example he used, five-star Lee's Summit North EDGE Williams Nwaneri could commit to Mizzou on Monday, Aug. 14, and two weeks after that he (or anyone in his position ready to commit to a Missouri-based university) can start earning NIL instead of having to wait until he signs in December.
He's not expected to be an early enrollee, so he'd be getting about eight full months of NIL.
If he was an early enrollee he'd get about three full months of NIL.
Also, most of these financial agreements probably have language that the player earns some of the NIL whenever they sign the agreement and then the other part of the portion when they sign their NLI.
So, here’s the high risk.
(I’ll continue with the Nwaneri example).
Obviously, committing is not the same as signing your NLI. So, in theory, Nwaneri could commit and sign some type of NIL deal and make NIL money until signing day and then still sign elsewhere because the financial aid agreements are not legally binding for the athlete.
I don’t think too many student-athletes are willing to commit to a school and receive some form of NIL and then when it comes time to sign leave and go elsewhere. Especially, when the school and the school’s fanbase they’d be alienating is an in-state school.
That would be pretty rough. But there’s a first for everything.
Someone down the line will inevitably commit to a school receive some type of NIL and then for one reason or another sign somewhere else. It may not be their plan at first, but it will happen.
So, that’s the big thing Missouri-based universities will have to be mindful of.
So, here’s the high reward.
The way I previously interpreted the law made me think players could get paid a month earlier (if they became early enrollees to the university in January) or paid six months earlier if that player decided to come to the university after they graduated.
Now, a player can commit whenever, sign some type of financial agreement and start earning NIL at that point.
That's just for the student-athletes.
For the schools, it essentially locks a player in months before they have to sign.
Honestly, it’s probably more of a low-risk, high-reward type of thing because, again, not too many student-athletes will accept money for months and then leave at the last minute.
I only say high-risk, high-reward because when a team who has this law in its state gets burned by a recruit who decides to sign elsewhere it will get burned pretty badly.
As for Mizzou, this law is huge and will make a ton of difference in the foreseeable future.
2. I dropped some nuggets on the team over the weekend and here are the ones I found interesting.
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