NIL Grandstanding On Tuesday Was Another Attempt At Winning PR Battle. Do You Think Congress Wants To Be In The Middle Of This?

Congratulations, you made it through the 10th hearing on NIL, and we are still asking questions like there's a solution on Capitol Hill. When are folks going to learn that these congressional hearings are a stage for folks to act like they care about what a college athlete makes in revenue.

So, NIL has now turned into the Wild Wild West, as many congressmen likened it Tuesday. It's as if these folks just crawled out from a cave and found out how to start a fire. Do you think the constituents of Lindsey Graham actually care about Name, Image and Likeness?

I would love to hear what you think about this story and the upcoming weekend in college football. So, email me at trey.wallace@outkick.com and I'll post some of your thoughts.

Are any of these folks in Congress going to hold campaign rallies around the fact they are trying to change college athletics? No, they are not looking for anymore legislation, when the country is dealing with a number of international problems, along with the 2024 election.

In saying all of this, it's mind blowing that some want to take them seriously. Sure, the 'Collectives' need more guidance on how to navigate the waters, but the college athletics world isn't crumbling like some of these folks would want you to believe.

Caleb Williams #13 of the USC Trojans reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium on October 14, 2023 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Oh, and do we really want congress to oversee any type of NIL regulation, when they are having a hard enough time managing their jobs in Washington, D.C.?

John Kennedy from Louisiana had this to say about congress intervening in NIL regulation.

"I would strongly encourage you and your colleagues to try to get together and come up with a new system for us to consider. It looks like somebody designed it on purpose. You may regret asking Congress to intervene here. All of a sudden, you're going to be micromanaged."

NIL Grandstanding In Washington With Congress

Some of these questions Tuesday were for grandstanding purposes, with Lindsey Graham acting like the NIL world isn't already a pay-for-play system. His comments show just how out of touch he is on the situation.

"If this committee and Commerce Committee doesn't act in about a year, this thing will be a mess," Lindsay Graham noted. "You're going to destroy college athletics."

Give me a break, college athletic isn't being ruined. Sure, the television networks certainly have more power than ever, but it's not ruining the sport.

If you really want to know how far off we are from Congress truly wanting to get involved, look no further than Senator Joe Manchin, who commented on how hard it is to cheer on these players.

"It's hard to root for the kids when they are multi-millionaires as freshmen and sophomores," Manchin said on Tuesday.

When it comes to 'Collectives', we have a whole different situation on our hands. Obviously NIL is no longer for the everyday deal you can make with a company on behalf of the student-athlete. No, NIL is being used to persuade players to enroll at certain schools. I find it hilarious that a collective would complain, but then sign a high school athlete to a six or seven figure contract when they enroll at a school.

Sure, there are many examples of how Collectives are beneficial to student-athletes when they get on campus. But let's not act like they are the victims in this, especially when the college athletics world changed two years ago.

How many times in the past two years have you seen the head football coach talk about needing more funds to get better players? It happened last week with Kentucky's Mark Stoops, which he isn't wrong about either.

Don't Misinterpret The Current College Football Setting

Whether it's television networks taking over college football and making decisions on where the sport is going, or NIL being one of the biggest driving forces in recruiting. It's all happening in front of you, and your 'leader's in Washington are not going to do much about it.

After Tuesday's venting session, all we got out of this was a can kicked down the road. Sometime in the near future, we'll have to find a way to regulate the current NIL structure, which involved Collectives. I see coaches begging for money to be put into the bank, but the on the other side we want to complain. We are paying the players who are good enough to draw a return on investment, and this is what irritates folks the most.

Angel Reese #10 of the LSU Lady Tigers reacts towards Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fourth quarter during the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament championship game at American Airlines Center on April 02, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

All of these schools and football programs are trying to play the same game. Unfortunately, the smaller schools don't have the funds to keep up.

The next time you hear someone complaining about NIL, or where we're headed in college athletics, show them a video a coach pleading for more money to buy better players. It's not as if they wanted to publicly start playing this game, when paying players was done under the cover of night in the past.

Good luck putting that genie back into the bottle. Congress doesn't really want to help anytime soon, they just want you to think they care. It's 2023, they've got elections to worry about.