Will Levis signed a lot of autographs during his two years at UK. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Quarterback Will Levis could be a bit quirky off the field during his two years at Kentucky and did a lot to promote his brand that led to several NIL deals. He was willing to share his thoughts and ideas with various media outlets and apparently that has not changed with his arrival in the NFL.
The Tennessee Titans quarterback, who recently signed a four-year, $9.5 million contract, joined the father-son duo of Brian and Jesse Kay on “Unpolished Gems” on Apple podcast. The Kays want to share some lesser-known stories on entertainers, executives and athletes.
Levis talked a lot about NIL where he probably made more money along with basketball player Oscar Tshiebwe than any other UK athletes during the 2022-23 school year.
“I feel like what I did it is what NIL in its purest form was supposed to be and if that’s how it is across the board, then that’s awesome, that’s what makes sense but if there aren’t ways around this pay-to-play thing then there’s nothing we can do about it,” Levis said.
“The rich are only going to get richer, the strongest of the teams in the league are only going to get stronger because of these new rules and it’s going to be interesting to see how the landscape of college football changes from here on out.”
Levis told the show hosts he had “strong opinions” on NIL.
“All the deals, all the money that I made in college, which was certainly enough but not nearly as much as even some of the high school kids are making before they even play a snap,” Levis said.
“I earned all the money that I made; I didn’t have any pay-to-play money. I learned about the ins and outs of marketing deals. I did the handful of deals I thought were appropriate, the ones that I thought worked with me and my brand.”
Levis said he fully embraced all athletes — men and women — earning money in college but said it was impossible to make it fair.
“There’s no way to get equal representation across all sports but the whole pay-to-play thing is just ridiculous. It doesn’t sit right with me,” Levis said.
He doesn’t like schools being “stepping stones” for athletes to use to get to other schools like the rules now allow.
“Guys and girls are going to be making decisions for not the right reasons and recruiting never sat right with me personally. I thought from my experience, I saw some nasty sides of it even before NIL and it’s just got even dirtier since then,” the former UK quarterback said.
“I can’t sit down a 15, 16-year-old and tell them to come to this school because he’s the greatest thing in the world and, oh, by the way, we’re going to give you a million dollars. Oh, someone else gave you a million-and-a-half? I guess we can do that too. It just didn’t sit right with me.”
* * *
Here is a link to the full podcast interview.
One Response
Levis got it right. NIL, in it’s present form, will destroy the ability for many once proud schools to compete athletically, all in due time. The way I see it, the cost of taking your kids to see a sporting event will just keep going higher and higher in order for programs to bring in much needed revenue to buy the best athletes money can buy. These schools better get some heavy hitters that have more money than brains, and buy a bunch of five star recruits and make them instant millionaires right out of high school . NIL should be outlawed, scratched, done away with, as fast as possible! Truth be told it will go on, because it is uncontrollable now, and no one has a plan to make it fair. Not enough seem to even care. College sports have been ruined by it IMO. Like Levis said, the rich will get richer. That is already happening. This will eventually hurt UK football unless they sell out and participate in this"pay for play" legalized cheating crap that is already happening, and everybody who has been watching this nonsense knows it.