NIL can be about more than money
Sam Howell, a rising junior at the University of North Carolina, is Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Player of the Year. The quarterback, who hails from Union County near Charlotte, got 114 votes from the 147 media members who make the selection. Howell’s a generational football talent at UNC, holding the ACC record for touchdown passes in a player’s first two seasons (68). (That’s two more than Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence had his first two seasons.) Howell’s tied with four-year starter Darian Durant for Carolina’s career touchdown pass record. Howell’s a legitimate contender for the Heisman Trophy. If he stays healthy, he’s almost a lock for the first round of next year’s NFL Draft. He’s a big name who can use that profile in ways his predecessors couldn’t. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling said the NCAA couldn’t continue denying amateur status to scholarship athletes who profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness. More than a dozen sta...