There are a lot of things wrong with college football these days. West Coast schools such as the University of Southern California are leaving the Pac-12 to join a conference that includes East Coast schools such as Rutgers. Traditional rivalry games that used to be national fixtures, such as Nebraska vs. Oklahoma, aren’t played anymore. The final national championship game doesn’t even start until 8:30 p.m. on a school night. Whose 10-year-old son can stay up for that?
One thing that is not wrong with the current college football scene, however, is the system of “name, image, likeness” or “NIL” deals that college players are now allowed to sign with pretty much whoever they want.
Now the new system isn’t perfect, to the extent you can call it a system at all. It’s a little like the Wild West. Players are not supposed to sign NIL deals with boosters of a university in exchange for agreeing to play for that university. But that does appear to be happening in some cases. And in other cases, booster clubs are paying athletes to enroll in schools where the head coach doesn’t even want the player to play!
We assume the craziness will subside a little as everyone gets used to the rules.
Yet every once in a while, someone signs an NIL deal that just brings a smile to your face and makes the new college football landscape feel like the wholesome regional institution it used to be.
When the Nebraska Cornhuskers brought in a wide receiver from Louisiana to Lincoln named Decoldest Crawford, SOS Heating and Cooling saw its chance.
“Hey, this is Decoldest Crawford, wide receiver from Louisiana, now playing in Lincoln. When your AC isn’t the coldest, you call SOS Heating and Cooling,” Decoldest says into the camera. “Take it from the Decoldest — we will keep you cool this summer.”
Is it fine art? No. Is Decoldest Crawford going to make the All-American team this year? Probably not. After two games, he has yet to catch a ball.
But his 30-second commercial has brought smiles to fans nationwide and put a little money in a young man’s pocket. What could possibly be wrong with that?
