The 'NIL Era' of collegiate sports has changed the landscape of college football. For example, Caleb Williams, the starting quarterback for the USC Trojans, will make approximately $2.5 million this year, which is more than Trevor Lawrence's NFL salary. Furthermore, Travis Hunter of the Colorado Buffaloes will rake in $1.5 million in NIL money. That is more than what Odell Beckham Jr. will collect this year as a starting wide receiver in the NFL.
With so much attention focused on the star players from the USC Trojans and the Colorado Buffaloes, their Pac-12 adversaries at the University of Utah have quietly jumped out to a 3-1 record while also snagging a ranking amongst the top 25 teams in the nation. Led by coach Kyle Whittingham and star players such as Cam Rising, Brant Kuithe, and Sataoa Laume, the Utes still have a legitimate chance of clinching one of the four available spots in the College Football Playoffs if they can defeat USC, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado in the coming months.
With an impressive recruiting class and a talented core of foundational pieces already in the fold, a NIL group in Utah known as the Crimson Collective recently gifted 85 scholarship football players from the Utah Utes with brand new Ram 1500 Trucks. The players were notified of the history-making NIL deal between Crimson Collection and the Ken Garff Automotive Group during a surprise presentation of the vehicles at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. With a retail value of $61,000 each, the players will operate the vehicles under a 27-month leasing agreement.
Scroll up and press play to watch the players' reactions, and when you're done, click here for more footage.
Source: Instagram
