By Rock Westfall
NIL remains a double-edged sword for college sports continuing crisis. Last week, LSU basketball star Angel Reese showed the downside of NIL superstardom as it has for her friend, Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders. In fact, Shedeur and Angel have, at times, been rumored to be more than friends and certainly have much in common.
The More Athletes Produce, the Less Accountability They Face
Ultimately, Shedeur Sanders and Angel Reese have earned most of what they have. Certainly, that is the case of Reese, who was raised by a single mother, compared to Sanders, who was raised by a multi-millionaire NFL star and celebrity with connections that Reese could not fathom.
Yet despite Shedeur having Deion Sanders as his dad and coach, it is no accident that he is a legitimate NFL Draft prospect and a valued Power Four quarterback. It is indisputable that Sanders had to put in the work to become what he is today.
Reese and Sanders make well over seven figures in NIL income. Reese is WNBA-bound, while Shedeur is one year away from the NFL. Both are first-round material.
When you combine youth, wealth, and fame, you often get an explosive combination, especially when it is fueled by willfully and defiantly playing the role of the villain to social media and the mainstream media.
While everyone must respect Reese and Sanders’s achievements, their antics and deliberate provocations are another matter. Reese and Sanders get away with a demeanor that would not be tolerated by almost anyone else.
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Sadly, the problem is that they don’t have to take their chosen nefarious paths, yet that is their willful choice. They can’t resist wearing the black hat. And, truth be told, they likely make more money from their villainous roles than if they wore the white hat instead.
https://twitter.com/DailyLoud/status/1704592041315881337
If You Embrace the Black Hat, You Had Better Like Heat
Last week, after LSU’s loss to Iowa in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s basketball tournament, Angel Reese had an emotional, tear-filled press conference in which she said that she has not been happy since LSU won the 2023 national championship. Reese complained that she had been targeted with hate and death threats and that she was sexualized. While hate and death threats are TOTALLY unacceptable, clean, hard shots at her clowning and hot dogging are completely fair.
On the hardwood, Reese became famous for taunting Caitlin Clark by pointing to her ring finger at the end of the 2023 LSU-Iowa national championship game. It was classless, unnecessary, and merited well-deserved criticism.
Reese’s shenanigans were amusing to her when she was winning but made her an unsympathetic figure in the process. Subsequently, when she lost, she cried for empathy. However, for millions of observers, forgiveness was not in the cards.
In much the same way, Shedeur Sanders set himself up for criticism by flashing his Rolex to fans on the field in a game at Arizona State. The taunt was utterly superfluous. And that is why when Colorado blew a 29-point lead in a 46-43 loss at home to lowly Stanford the following week, the haters raised a glass and did a post-midnight happy dance.
When Sanders blew off the first team meeting of the 2024 spring to do a Louis Vuitton photo shoot in Paris with his brother and teammate Shilo Sanders, fans recoiled at the lack of camaraderie and football leadership. At that moment, Colorado football was fully exposed as a Sanders Family Business, and everyone else was exposed as hired help.
https://twitter.com/Ca1ebWilliams/status/1775263868492849313
Shallow Lazy Media Racializes Legitimate Revulsion of Fans
The most disgusting aspect of the Shedeur Sanders and Angel Reese controversies is the mindless media’s immediate reflex to turn all legitimate criticism into charges of racism. This ignorant, shallow sloth ignores that some of the most hated players in college sports history were white. Furthermore, let’s not forget that Reese’s white arch-rival, Caitin Clark, has her own legion of haters, much of which was brought on herself by her own antics.
The media forgets the harsh and well-deserved attacks against Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, the Heisman Trophy winner in 2012. Johnny Football took all kinds of heat for his showboating and flashing of the money sign. But he took it like a man with a devilish grin and never complained.
And then there was Florida QB and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, who was hated for the opposite reasons of Sanders, Reese, and Manziel. Tebow was too perfect for millions of fans, wearing the white hat as an outspoken Christian and then-virgin. But Tebow accepted his plight as an outspoken believer and carried his cross.
Above all, there was the man NFL.com named the most hated player in college football history. Oklahoma LB Brian Bosworth drew venom from millions of fans and those who didn’t even like football for just being himself, which was a classless, obnoxious, egotistical jerk. But the Boz made millions playing the role and laughed all the way to the bank without complaint. He is more likable now as the Dr. Pepper sheriff of Fansville.
https://twitter.com/corpwarrior66/status/1643096137833009152
Is Shedeur College Football’s Fallen Angel?
Shedeur Sanders comes from a much more privileged family than Angel Reese. And he has remarked that he loves the hate while making people mad.
Sanders is not shy about his luxury car collection, which includes a Rolls Royce Cullinan. Shedeur has collected his share of parking tickets in Boulder but has taken it well. And while he acknowledges a responsibility about being a black QB when asked, he doesn’t make a cause celebre out of it.
On the other hand, he braggadociously attacked Texas 6A quarterbacks such as Quinn Ewers, Jalen Milroe, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, and Jalen Hurts. He also whined about taking heat for going to an expensive private school.
In comparison, Angel Reese had much more to overcome being raised by a single mom in the Baltimore area. She is to be admired for overcoming her humble beginnings to become a millionaire, college grad, and All-American basketball star.
Shedeur and Angel bring a lot of negativities upon themselves and don’t seem to know when to say when. Thus, they have no legitimate case to complain about images that they carefully and deliberately crafted for themselves.
Sanders and Reese did not break any rules or laws. They can do or be whatever they want. But as President Ronald Reagan loved to say, “Freedom is Not Free.” Meaning that everyone pays the price for what they choose to project. So, for those who can’t take the heat for wearing the black hat, get out of the kitchen. Tone it down and go low-key. Otherwise, stop whining, keep clowning, and enjoy the bag while basking in the firestorm.
Sanders and Reese are sports villains, not actual outlaws. They know they are entertainers and are quite intelligent about it, too.
At the end of the day, the people Sanders and Reese hurt (and help) the most are themselves.
All told, America has much bigger fish to fry.
https://twitter.com/nikkiedwardsss/status/1703209977618563408
