The NCAA’s recent adoption of a name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy allows student-athletes to earn revenue through endorsement deals. It’s legislation that will help Black athletes in particular.
These new financial opportunities increase the need for providing financial literacy to student-athletes and their families. The education would empower student-athletes to develop a stronger business acumen at a younger age, enabling them to more effectively navigate the complex world of sports sponsorships.
And ultimately empowering them to positively impact their friends, family, and community.
College football drives the most revenue for schools, but NFL eligibility requirements restrict movement to the next level.
To be eligible for the NFL draft, “players must have been out of high school for at least three years and must have used up their college eligibility before the start of the next college football season. Underclassmen and players who have graduated before using all their college eligibility may request the league’s approval to enter the draft early.”
Before the introduction of NIL laws, revenue-driving college football players weren’t compensated for their labor.
But now, all athletes should receive financial literacy education to navigate NIL opportunities and (potentially) negotiate professional contracts. Most athletes will initially still hire agents, but some will not and the impact from that could be tremendously liberating for Black athletes and Black people.
Lamar Jackson is next in line for one of the biggest contracts in NFL history, probably somewhere between Patrick Mahomes’ $45 million per season and Dak Prescott’s $40 million per season.
Jackson currently does not have an agent.
His 4-year, $9 million rookie contract was negotiated by a combination of his mother Felicia Jones, who he refers to as his manager, himself, and an attorney. At the time Lamar explained his decision by saying, “I know coming in as a rookie, agents don’t negotiate anything really…You know you’re gonna get the salary you’re gonna get, and I decided I don’t need him. He’s going to be taking a big cut of my paycheck anyway, and I feel I deserve it right now.”
Jackson understands the rookie wage scale, which automatically slots first-year players into designated salary silos based on their draft position. He wants to keep as much of his hard-earned money as possible, money that was earned during a Heisman winning and record-setting college football career at the University of Louisville.
The university and the coaching staff profited from his success, yet Jackson was primarily compensated through free tuition, all while risking his multimillion-dollar body.
Agents generally receive 3% of a player’s salary. That would be over $1 million a year on a contract in the $40 million range. Negotiating with the help of an attorney usually costs the athlete 1% or less.
False Assumptions of the Black Athlete
Athletes are often criticized for how they spend their money, but there is significantly less positive press when they try to retain their hard-earned money. Instead, there have been historical assumptions that Black athletes aren’t smart or capable of managing their own finances.
When Richard Sherman negotiated his 3-year, $39 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2018, there were numerous people in the media that came out against Sherman. The criticism prompted Sherman to write a letter in response.
“You got people out there running their mouths and bashing me for having the audacity to think I’m qualified to negotiate my own contract — like, Who do I think I am? Well, I’m the one looking out for myself and my family. Agents negotiate bad deals all the time. And while I don’t think every player should negotiate his own contract — it’s not for everybody — I felt I was up to the task. And whether you think it’s a good deal or a bad deal right now, the incentives give me the potential to make it a great deal over the length of the contract.”
In the end, Sherman got paid.
Given his age (30) and that he was returning from a devastating Achilles injury, an agent might have advised him differently and recommended Sherman take an incentive-laden contract.
But Sherman was smart enough to recognize his value and fight for it. Yet his success story received much less praise than the ridicule he received three years earlier.
Instead of using Sherman’s story to empower athletes, articles like “Richard Sherman won a risky bet on himself that not every NFL player should make” were written to diminish his approach.
We can learn from athletes like Bobby Wagner, who acts as his own agent and is currently one of the highest-paid linebackers in the NFL (approximately $18 million a year). But the absence of stories about his success protects the current power dynamic associated with Black athletes and white institutions.
Framing these stories in a positive light would empower more Black athletes. It would inspire them to learn, take risks, understand the marketplace and their value, and aim to retain the money they earn after surviving three years of profitless college football.
By emphasizing the misses and diminishing the successes, the stereotypes plaguing Black athlete intellect are maintained. This prevents the liberation of Black athletes, their families, and Black people in general.
This story about Russell Okung, “Russell Okung the agent seems to have screwed Russell Okung the player” perpetuates this practice.
It attacks Okung for having the knowledge and courage to negotiate his own contract. The author punches down at Okung’s failed attempt to secure a fair contract for himself, which resulted in the Broncos voiding the contract after the first year and releasing him.
There is zero reporting on the motivations and rationale of Okung’s decision to represent himself. There is even less about the lessons he learned and how he applied them to secure much better compensation in his next contract with their AFC West rivals, the LA Chargers (4-years, $53 million).
Too often the narrative is focused on protecting the establishment as opposed to empowering the Black athlete. We see it with the NCAA, NFL, coaches, and sports agents. These narratives set a tone of punishment and humiliation for the former while celebrating the parties in the latter.
Why is there so much protection afforded to organizations and teams that take advantage of their players? Where is the love and team concepts when it comes to contract negotiation?
Seeing that their rivals quickly signed Okung to a healthy deal, was the decision of taking advantage of the athlete good business for the Broncos?
The protection of these institutions at the expense of the Black labor takes precedence. And that has made the NCAA and NFL extremely profitable.
The narrative around Black athletes needs to change. Black athletes need to be empowered with the tools, knowledge, and support to act independently and empower themselves and their communities.
Lamar and the Resistance
Lamar Jackson’s decision not to hire an agent has, “raised eyebrows”.
Jackson’s story is one of resistance against the cultural norms placed on Black athletes, especially those at quarterback. Notably, Lamar has won negotiations with institutions that tried to assert their power and authority over him by dictating what position he should play and how he should handle contract negotiations.
Jackson lost his father and grandmother within 24 hours of each other when he was 8 years old. This strengthened the bond with his mother, Felicia Jones.
From high school to the University of Louisville and the NFL, Jones has made it clear that Jackson would only play quarterback. As a 3-star recruit in the state of Florida, in-state schools recruited him as an athlete. But Jones held firm and eventually made then Cardinals’ head coach Bobby Petrino promise that Jackson would remain under center.
After a Heisman Trophy career, Jackson entered the draft.
Calls for him to change positions once again rang out, this time by Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian (who later apologized).
“Short and a little bit slight… Clearly, clearly not the thrower that the other guys are. The accuracy isn’t there… I think wide receiver. Exceptional athlete…exceptional instinct with the ball in his hand and that’s rare for wide receivers,” said Polian.
But mother and son remained committed to their vision, even while famously sitting distraught at their table at the 2018 NFL Draft.
Their decision to rebuke the institutional authority at both the college and professional levels garnered him a Heisman, NFL MVP, and soon to be one of the largest contracts in NFL history. This was accomplished all while playing quarterback and negotiating his own contracts.
Jackson has a track record of doing things his own way while proving the doubters and dissenters wrong.
I’m willing to bet on him to do it again. Are you?
