Eli Drinkwitz clarifies earlier NIL comments, speaks to media coverage of them
Eli Drinkwitz spoke with Paul Finebaum on Wednesday and clarified his earlier comments that created a buzz throughout the SEC and drew national headlines.
Drinkwitz on Tuesday said college players, through name, image and likeness, are making more money than his brother-in-law, who is a pediatrician: “He saves lives.”
Drinkwitz said he tried to give a thoughtful answer to a question about gambling on college football.
“I think yesterday was a little bit of a disingenuous approach to media,” he said. “To be quite honest, I don’t think my quote that made the rounds on media was taken in any type of context at all. I was referring to the fact that, I love the fact that our players make NIL and I think that’s awesome. I’ve been one of the leaders and the forefront of that. I mean, our state law is one of the most progressive state laws out there. That I’m fighting for our players to have the ability to earn finances off of their name, image and likeness.”
Drinkwitz then said what he wants understood is that there are unintended consequences with giving 18 to 22-year-olds a large sum of money.
“I think that’s what there needs to be an understanding of,” he said. “Is we’re not talking about players making $10,000 or $12,000 a year. We’re talking about guys that are making 6 figures, 7 figures, which is awesome. But with that much money comes a different set of responsibilities that if we’re not careful, we’re going to look back in 4 and 5 years, and we’re going to be just like the NFL and the NBA where 78% of those professional athletes after 5 years move from playing in the NFL and the NBA are bankrupt.”
Eliah Drinkwitz offers more context on his NIL opinions, and commentary on how the CFB world reported what he said on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/Z6jNPpssxP
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) May 31, 2023