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The NCAA is moving forward with its new plan to allow college athletes to profit off their own name, image and likeness it was announced on April 29.
However, with a vote not forthcoming until January, it won’t take effect for the foreseeable.
Regardless, it’s a move that many believe is the right call, as, at the moment, while any other person in America can feasibly (or unfeasibly) promote themselves as a brand and get paid for it, student-athletes participating in NCAA-member teams cannot.
And with the legislation moving forward to an eventual vote, there’s one advocate very much in favor: Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.
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Harbaugh has already positioned himself as a champion for student-athletes’ rights, having proposed a one-year without exclusion transfer rule as well as a vast change to the amateurism model as it’s currently known. In a long conversation with Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast about his recent open letter to everyone in football, Harbaugh also noted that he’s a big fan of the new name, image, likeness rule, believing the more control put into the student-athlete’s hands, the better.
“We believe the name, image and likeness is a very good thing,” Harbaugh said. “It’s the same trajectory that somebody has their name, it’s their likeness, it’s their image. They should have – a player should have the same opportunity that a football coach has to profit off their name, image and likeness. Same as yourself as a broadcaster has a chance to profit off your name, image and likeness. Again, not the best to have a rule that says you can’t.
“So we’re all for it. We’re all for name, image and likeness. Really, this proposal that I would like to see discussed is the exact same trajectory. It’s place in the hands of the individual and their families, Jon.”
While there’s a wind of change in the NCAA, more is remaining the same.
The new proposed rule excludes college players to profit off their name, image or likeness in association with the college they’re attending. Meaning: one cannot have merchandise or be in a commercial that bears the uniforms or insignia associated with the school they attend.
That means that it’s unlikely that we’ll see a return of EA Sports’ popular NCAA Football franchise, one which both the public as well as college-level athletes have been openly clamoring for.
Still, positive change in the NCAA is rare, and if there’s one person who’s an advocate for players, Jim Harbaugh has certainly been vocal in that regard.
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