When Gatorade told Shedeur Sanders he would be the first college football athlete to sign a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal with the national brand, he was at a loss for words.
Sanders has been a part of other NIL deals with big brands, including Beats by Dre and famed quarterback Tom Brady’s new apparel line, but being the first to represent an iconic athletic sports drink, and to do it at a historically Black college and university (HBCU), meant Sanders’ plan was working.
He’s proud to represent these companies, but he considers his path — playing quarterback for his father, head coach Deion Sanders at Jackson State – a movement to help others around him and to continue making noise on a nontraditional route.
“This whole HBCU thing that’s going on right now is bringing national attention,” Sanders said. “We got players from Power 5 actually coming to HBCU schools now, it wasn’t like that a couple years ago, so it’s just really exciting to see that competition will go up. Everything’s going to go up, and honestly, other players in HBCUs should get deals also.”
Sanders was an ESPN 300 prospect out of Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas, where his father was his offensive coordinator. He had offers from FBS and Power 5 schools, but he chose to follow his dad to Jackson State and try to get others to buy into the notion that they didn’t have to take the typical route.
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SOURCE: The Undefeated, Tom Vanhaaren
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