George Pickens, test case?

In his Mailbag today ($$), Seth Emerson makes an interesting point about the injured star receiver’s immediate future in Athens:

There’s one more wrinkle in this: NIL. It’s no longer the case that Pickens will risk everything and make nothing by coming back to Georgia. He can cash in on his name and his brand while rehabbing, and his brand would seem to be enhanced by keeping on that Georgia uniform as long as possible this fall, even if it’s on the sideline. If he’s a man without a country, in between his Georgia career and the NFL, he’s not quite as marketable. But if he’s still attached to Georgia, he can perhaps plow Georgia’s grateful fan base via social media accounts, maybe sign some autographs or whatever form this ends up taking.

This has been something I’ve been curious about all along: Will NIL keep more players in college longer? If it does, that would be a good thing for everyone involved, right?

I think so.  Not just in cases like Pickens’, but also bowl game opt-out decisions and relatively marginal players pondering leaving school early for the NFL draft.

Could this be the Summer of George?  If it helps make it easier for him to stay committed to the red and black, I’m all for it.

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Your Daily Gator doth protest too much, methinks.

Bud Elliott, with the shot.

OK so I got my second shot yesterday and have been feeling a bit under the weather, so roast away.

Would Florida fans trade for Kirby?

More on @Cover3Podcast as we debated the value of coaching v. recruiting. pic.twitter.com/ZI3RHMVioF

— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) May 19, 2021

And here’s the chaser for the ages.

It’s not nice to keep the media waiting.

The wise heads at CBSSports have gazed upon the visage of Kirby Smart, and found him lacking.

7

Georgia

Kirby Smart: We’re starting to see our voters reach the point where Kirby needs to show them more. He advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship in his second season with the Bulldogs and has recruited at an elite level. But the program has stalled a bit in recent seasons and failed to win the SEC East in 2020. It enters the 2021 season as a title contender once again, but you can only be a title contender for so long without winning one before patience wears thin…

Yeah, shmuck. What have you done for us lately?

Ahead of Smart on that list are the likes of Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley, who share two things in common:  neither has won a national title and both have lost to Kirby Smart.  For some reason, they apparently don’t need to show them more.

Feeling the heat

I’ll believe it when I see it.

The NCAA Division I Council plans to act on legislative proposals next month that would allow athletes to be paid to be sponsors, social media influencers and product endorsers, the governing body for college sports announced Wednesday.

The council will take up the issue at its meeting June 22-23 with the goal of having legislation in place by July 1. That would provide greater consistency in the name, image and likeness opportunities available to student-athletes nationally as state laws become effective on or around that date.

The council expressed general support for amending the effective date of the proposals from Aug. 1 to July 1, or immediately if action is taken after July 1, the NCAA said in a statement.

Measures introduced in October would allow athletes to use their name, image and likeness to promote camps and clinics, private lessons, their own products and services, and commercial products or services. They also could be paid for autographs and personal appearances.

After years of inactivity, trying to calibrate just the right amount of movement has got to be tough.  And coming up with something to take effect in a little over a week from the decision?  Hey, it’s the NCAA.  What could go wrong?

TFW something’s not all it’s cracked up to be

Quick, can you name the SEC team that returns the most experienced quarterback in the conference?

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UPDATE:  Hot take!  Get ‘yer hot take right here!

Former LSU QB TJ Finley is in the transfer portal, w/ Auburn reportedly among the frontrunners.

Finley would make sense for AU — but likely as a backup.

Finley aims to be a starter, but the path to QB1 in Auburn seems no easier than at LSU.

COLUMN⤵️https://t.co/IZ7DYe9xZl

— Blake Toppmeyer (@btoppmeyer) May 20, 2021

Christmas in May

Manna from Birmingham:

The Southeastern Conference announced today it has provided each member university a $23 million supplemental revenue distribution to help mitigate the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SEC athletics programs.

The SEC is using future conference revenues to provide the one-time supplement for the regular 2020-21 fiscal year distributions that will be made to SEC athletics programs.

“The extraordinary circumstances produced by the global pandemic have presented colleges and universities with an unprecedented disruption to their programs and budgets,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “This supplemental revenue distribution will help ensure each SEC member will continue to provide high levels of support to its student-athletes.”

Doing it for the kids is undefeated.

“Thanks to years of responsible decision-making and unity, combined with unparalleled success, the SEC and its 14 member universities are uniquely prepared to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and continue building on a remarkable legacy of achievement.”

There’s something about handing out money to schools like Tennessee to ameliorate massive buyouts and the cock-ups by dumbass athletic directors while praising the same for “years of responsible decision-making” that makes me think Greg Sankey is quite the kidder.  It’s that, or he’s full of shit.

Either way, he thanks you for your support.