The injury to Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral sparked plenty of takes about college football players opting out of bowl games. But it is also a reminder of how important the debate about name, image, and likeness rights was for college athletes.
Corral was injured in the Sugar Bowl, being carted into the locker room and returning to the Ole Miss sideline on crutches. Despite being a likely first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Corral had decided not to opt-out of the game, which several other prominent players elected to do. While some sports personalities shamed players for opting out, Corral’s injury was a reminder of the risk those players are taking when they are just a few months away from the life-changing, generational wealth that comes with being drafted by the NFL.
Luckily, Corral’s injury appears to just be a sprain, and it will likely have no bearing on his draft stock. Past college football players haven’t been as lucky. Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu dropped from a possible first-round pick to a seventh-round pick in the 2015 draft after a torn ACL his senior year. South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore, a possible first-round pick in the 2013 draft, tore every ligament in his knee in a particularly gruesome injury. He fell to the fourth round.
Neither Lattimore nor Ekpre-Olamu found their footing in the NFL. Along with losing out on an NFL career, both lost out on the chance to earn millions just from being drafted early. The same could have happened to Corral, but the change to NIL laws would have helped soften the blow.
College football has been a multimillion (and now multibillion) dollar industry for years now, but neither Lattimore nor Ekpre-Olamu could have made money off of their own name when they played. While coaches, athletic directors, universities, and the president of the NCAA made millions, players were limited to scholarships because of “amateurism.” Most players would never have a chance to make millions in the pros, and the few that did were always one brutal injury away from missing out on life-changing money.
The change in NIL laws would have blunted the damage for Corral. He was one of the many players to capitalize on the new reforms that were forced on the NCAA by state laws. Corral had launched his own clothing line and had an endorsement deal with the world’s largest licensed sports and entertainment collectibles company, Panini America. Missing out on that first-round deal would still hurt, but it would be mitigated by his own earning opportunities in college, a benefit not offered to Lattimore or Ekpre-Olamu.
Nothing can make up for losing out on an NFL dream because of a catastrophic injury, but allowing athletes to sign endorsement deals in an environment where every coach and administrator can make millions was always a no-brainer. Corral thankfully won’t be another “what if” story, but his injury is a reminder of how important the NIL fight was and how beneficial it was to players’ futures that the NCAA was forced to accept the reforms.
