Tom Brady has had the most successful career in the history of the NFL, winning three MVP trophies and seven Super Bowls as a starting quarterback. Naturally, all of that success came with a financial boon, both in the form of playing contracts and endorsement deals.
Now, college athletes can get a piece of the pie as well, thanks to the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) era. Strangely, Brady is acting almost as if NIL is a bad thing, telling FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt that he’s happy he didn’t have to deal wiht it when he was playing his college ball with the Michigan Wolverines.
“They’re young. They don’t have life experience,” Brady said, according to FOX Sports. “It should be the parents. Be a good parent. Teach your kid the right values. What’s going to sustain them in their careers over a period of time?
“Whether it’s football or whether it’s business or whether it’s teaching or law school or medical school or a trade, whatever you want to do, you’re going to have to go through hard things in your life. You’re going to have to make tough choices. The value isn’t always about the last dollar.
“So I think all these things that are happening in college sports, we’re prioritizing the wrong things. We’re valuing the wrong things. I’m not saying it’s not important. It’s one of 10 things that are important, and certainly to me, it’s not the most important.
“So when kids do go through that the right way, they’re actually learning the right values. When you have the right values in life, that’s going to sustain you as you move on through the rest of your life.”
While Brady likely means well here, it’s hard to argue that NIL is anything but beneficial to players, many of whom are now receiving life changing money to help their families.