Not long ago, a 15-year-old star quarterback in Alabaster, Alabama, named Trent Seaborn was given an offer that seemed impossible to refuse.
This student is the reigning All-County First Team quarterback and was the quarterback for Thompson High. One summer day, his father came and told him that he just got a seven-figure NIL offer. They were going to pay him for his name, image and his likeness (hence, NIL), and if he accepted it, he would’ve had to move schools from Thompson High and, more than likely, out of the state of Alabama all together.
This is just the first layer of that whole story, and there are many other instances of situations with NIL offers. I believe that NIL offers should not be allowed or, for that matter, even be legal, and we shouldn’t let these young athletes be affected, and taken advantage of, by contract offers from businesses that usually only are given to big name athletes, which causes unequal opportunities.
This can cause kids to stop sports altogether.
NIL deals take advantage of children. Looking back,Trent, the 15-year-old high school kid, turned down a $1 million offer for his name, image and likeness from a sports card making company named Leaf. The first problem with this whole deal is that it’s illegal in Alabama.
Andrew Simonson says, “While high school NIL is still illegal in Alabama, situations like Seaborn’s have led to questions about what NIL would look like at the high school level and if there is any way it could be positively implemented.”
This would’ve forced Trent and his family to move from Alabama if he accepted, because in order to make the deal legal, he would have to move to a different state where it is legal. Another problem here is the question of how NIL offers could even be positively implemented. The problem with figuring out how it could be is also left up to the kid who takes an offer.
A lot of the time, it can depend on independent circumstances, like how the Seaborn family didn’t want to move from Alabama for this deal because it was their home, and Lord knows how much of that $1 million contract would’ve gone to the house in the new state. If a kid is told, “hey, here is a million dollars,” after that contract is signed, an athlete could very much lose interest in winning or being successful for themselves, and rather for their brand, in worries of losing a contract if they aren’t successful.
This adds additional pressure to a high school student that already may juggle the sport itself, academic challenges and private family challenges.
Another decision is the kid taking the contract money and going easier and putting less effort in, or dropping the sport altogether, in a take the money and run situation. Though this is unlikely, it can happen, and in doing so, the kid could feel like they have it made with little work.
Thomas C. Olney-Ward
Centralia High School student
