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Debate

Are NIL deals ruining college football by turning athletes into celebrities before they prove themselves?

Ty Simpson, Alabama’s backup QB and a former five-star prospect in the 2022 class made a splash in the gridiron last year when he went toe-to-toe against Jalen Milroe for the starting quarterback position. While Simpson ultimately settled for the backup quarterback position, he has already established himself as a promising player.

Ty Simpson, who mostly redshirted last season under the legendary coach Nick Saban, was rumored to enter the transfer portal. But proving his loyalty to Alabama, Simpson decided to stay at Tuscaloosa, for this fall season at least. Simpson’s popularity and honesty have not only garnered him a significant number of followers on social media but also got him quite a few lucrative NIL deals. With 43K social media followers, Simpson ranks at No. 36 on On3’s College Football NIL Rank with an NIL evaluation of $666K. As Simpson gears up for the fall season, here’s a look into the NIL deals that the talented QB has bagged so far.

Ty Simpson’s NIL deals

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The five-star quarterback out of Martin, Tennessee inked a lucrative deal with Harbin Automotive. In exchange for promoting Harbin, Simpson will receive a fresh new Ford or Chevrolet truck every few months. Not a bad deal, huh? But that’s not just it. Harbin set the multi-year NIL deal in motion with Simpson by handing him the key to a brand new 2024 Chevy Silverado.
“As fourth-generation business owners, character and integrity have been the building blocks of our 85-year-old family business,” said Win Harbin, owner of Harbin Automotive. “When NIL partnerships became an opportunity, those two things were non-negotiable for us.” Praising the Bama QB, Harbin said, “ Ty embodies these qualities and more and we are excited to partner with him for the upcoming season and years to come.” The deal was kicked off by QB Reps, a full-service marketing agency that also manages Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard and Ole Miss’ Walker Howard.

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Simpson also featured in Amazon Prime Video’s one of the largest NIL campaigns for March Madness. The one-of-a-kind campaign highlights the power of NIL, with a group of elite athletes like Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels, Nebraska volleyball’s Lexi Rodriguez and Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina, and many more. Simpson also inked a sweet deal with Electronic Arts, featuring in the highly anticipated EA College Football 2025 game. The deal allowed EA to use Simpson’s name, image, and likeness in the game, which had its initial release this July. The Bama QB will also get $600 and a copy of EA College Football 2025, all thanks to the NIL deal EA Sports lined up with the players.

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Are NIL deals ruining college football by turning athletes into celebrities before they prove themselves?

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Simpson’s future at Alabama

The 6-foot-2, 203-pound redshirt sophomore has been nothing but promising so far at Tuscaloosa. Simpson also has stood out in the spring drills, looking sharp and confident running the offense. The QB even completed seven of 12 pass attempts for 102 yards in one of the games.

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Even Alabama’s head coach has been pretty impressed with Simpson’s performance. “Yeah, I mean you saw it,” DeBoer said. “He does a great job back there. You’ve got full confidence with a lot of those guys back there, but Ty, I thought, again, he’s just been consistent and gotten better throughout the spring. Never really had any drops and in each and every practice you see what he does out there and he’s accurate, he knows when to put touch on it.”

Under Coach Saban, Ty hit 11 of 20 passes last season, with no touchdowns or picks. The backup QB, who finished at No.2 in the depth chart also ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. There’s no doubt that Simpson is a solid backup if Milroe gets injured. With three years of eligibility left, the fans can expect Simpson to be playing starting QB in 2025 once Jalen Milroe departs for the NFL the following season. What are your thoughts about Simpson’s NIL deals? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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