Brian Bosworth laments impact of NIL deals on college athletes

Brian Bosworth would have cashed in nicely if NIL deals existed 35 years ago, but he is skeptical about the negative impact of the new rules.

In the mid 80’s, there was probably no more recognizable college athlete than Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Brian Bosworth. "The Boz" was also a great player. He’s still the only two-time winner of the Butkus Award-given to the nation’s top linebacker each year.

But Bosworth of course had to turn pro before he could fully monetize his talent and persona. He signed the largest rookie contract in NFL history with the Seattle Seahawks in 1987, and he inked endorsement deals worth north of $1 million. In September of 1988, he wrote an autobiography with Rick Reilly.

In a recent interview with Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY (h/t to Yahoo!), Bosworth offered his thoughts on the new rules regarding name, image and likeness deals for college athletes. Naturally, with focus on football.

“The other guys that are on the team that are working hard are getting zip. Unless the quarterback who’s making $1 million is going to divvy up his endorsement deals with the offensive line, the receivers and his running backs that are helping him be a marquee guy, I think it’s a recipe for disaster.”

“I can attest to this," said Bosworth. "We’re immature as hell when we’re 18, 19, 20, 21. We don’t know what we’re doing. Our brains aren’t fully developed. It’s hard enough just being a normal athlete including being a student. Now you’re going, ‘I’ve got to be the poster boy of the team.’ The pressure on these kids is going to be tremendous."

“There’s no way I could’ve handled that," he said. "Obviously, I couldn’t handle it. It would’ve certainly consumed more time than it would’ve been worth because my value on the field would have diminished greatly. I just don’t see that you can balance both of them at that young age. Just given the load that’s on our plate.”

Bosworth thoughts/concerns on NIL compensation inequities within a college football locker room aren’t new. But the reality is the starting quarterback, the star running back or star wide receiver are going to be more visible, and get more opportunities, than the starting left guard.

Bosworth went on to offer the idea, also not necessarily new, that schools construct an annual trust for athletes. His idea is it would get paid out after a player exhausts his eligibility, and be contingent on not transferring.

Just seeing the headline of the USA TODAY story made me instantly think Bosworth was being hypocritical to “decry” the impact of NIL deals (the headline uses the word “decries”). But he acknowledged the slippery slope he would have been on if the new rules existed when he was at Oklahoma. To say nothing of the in-locker room jealousy that surely existed for “The Boz”, which would have been even worse if he had been cashing in like he surely would’ve had the opportunity to do.