Mississippi State QB Will Rogers Throwing Touchdown Passes For 'Make-A-Wish' This Season

Over the past year, we've seen the positive and negative impacts that Name, Image And Likeness have had on college sports. But every so often we hear a story about a player making the most out of their opportunities by helping others. Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers is hoping to throw a significant amount of touchdowns this season, not only for his team.

Rogers has worked with the Make-A-Wish organization in the past, spending time with one kid last November and then an inviting them to the Bulldogs game against Tennessee State.

Now, the Brandon, Mississippi, native is taking his relationship with the organization a step further.

Besides all of the work Rogers has done for the foundation in the past, his new NIL partnership with 'Simmons Erosion Control' will raise money for more kids to have their wishes granted in the future.

For every touchdown pass that Rogers throws this season, 'Simmons Erosion Control' will donate $1,000 to the Make-A-Wish foundation in Mississippi, according to the announcement. Rogers threw for 36 touchdowns in 2021, so he could end up raising a lot of money this season for a great cause.

Allison Taylor, the CEO of Make-A-Wish Mississippi, gave a statement to WJTV in Jackson, Miss. about the partnership.

“Will actually partnered with us back in the spring to help us with a little bit with our Starkville Evening of Wishes. He wanted to partner with a non-profit to make an impact right here in Mississippi. We joined forces and started talking to him about helping Make-A-Wish Mississippi. He got to experience some of our kids. All of our kids are diagnosed with a critical illness. We truly make their one wish come true, and he wanted to do his part to help,”

Oct 30, 2021; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers (2) Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

While appearing at an event for a young lady named Gabby Buford, Rogers told WAPT that he's excited to use his NIL opportunity for the right reasons, referencing one of the SEC's promotional slogans.

“It just means more, you hear that saying and you really feel it doing things like this. You know it’s not just about Name, Image and Likeness, it goes way beyond that. For me to be able to come out here and meet a great family and a great person like Gabby, it means everything. 

"I think in the day and era of college football everybody just wants the camera on them, all the attention on them, NIL just made that ten times more for everybody," Rogers added. "It’s easy to get attention and things like that, but a lot of it is for the wrong reasons. So I think if I can meet people like this and be able to experience the friendships and everything like that, it just means so much more.”

So, will the Mississippi State quarterback be thinking about this opportunity during a game?

“It’s definitely something that might cross my mind even in the middle of a game you know. I am definitely gonna try my hardest to throw as many touchdown passes as I can. A little extra motivation."

If you would like to donate to the Make-A-Wish foundation, just click the link here.

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