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ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter thought about any similarities and differences between NIL and the NFL. After giving it some time, he spoke on his podcast about an alarming similarity between the two.
“In the last two weeks alone, we’ve seen a couple of players refuse to enter games,” Schefter said. “We saw Diontae Johnson do it in Baltimore, and we saw De'Vondre Campbell do it in San Francisco. We saw a quarterback tapping out of a game, which we’d never seen, and we saw a coach going after fans.
“I don’t know if we could put one big ribbon around all of this behavior, but I think of this. We are getting more and more college players who are making more and more money and getting more and more entitled, and maybe having more and more of a warped sense of reality enter the NFL. They get to do what they want in college, and it’s going to be that way in the NFL.”
There are specific examples that Schefter pointed out. Most notably, De'Vondre Campbell left his team in the middle of the game. It sparked outrage from fans, media, and even his team. As a result, Campbell was suspended by the team for three games. In a similar sense, Diontae Johnson was excused from team activities earlier this week.
NFL and NIL similarities are for the worse, in the eyes of Adam Schefter
Schefter has seen the development time and time again. As one of the top senior insiders, he understands the growing complex of the league. However, some of the separation between college and the pros is fading away. NIL has allowed college athletes to receive compensation for a plethora of things. Despite that, it's sparked a potential entitlement from some players. Not to mention, the transfer portal is a huge element that some believe is turning college football into free agency.
Players can leave a university and join another whenever. For instance, players like Maalik Murphy have entered the transfer portal, although his team is playing in the Gator Bowl. With all that being said, it's only the first few years of NIL making an impact in college sports. Still, some of the antics surrounding the NFL this season can be attributed to that.
Also, if a player is unhappy with their pro contract, they can't just up and leave like in college. However, players have held out before, and it's worked. Still, it's not a good look, and it can likely stem from one source.
