Celebrate Quinn Ewers, don’t jeer him, for choosing legacy over a bag

In 2021, the NBA saw 363 players apply for early entry in the league’s annual draft. That was a record high, and it has been nothing but downhill ever since. According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, this year’s draft saw just 106 early entrants — the lowest in any draft since 2015. 

One month before the 2021 NBA Draft, the NCAA officially legalized student-athletes profiting off of their name, image, and likeness. In the years since, college basketball players have understood the value proposition; there’s more juice to be squeezed out of a college career than there is as a fringe professional. 

We’ll see the same development across other major sports — college football included. Cam Ward made sure of that. 

The former Washington State quarterback wanted to make his move to the NFL following the 2023 season. The feedback wasn’t what he wanted, so instead of risking it as a Day 2 or 3 pick, Ward spent another season in the college ranks. Only, he transferred to a bigger stage, showcased his ability in front of the masses, and became the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Ward got paid from Miami for his lone season as a Hurricane, but that pales in comparison to the $40 million-plus he’ll make with the Tennessee Titans next season.

More players are going to do what Ward did. And they’ll look at Quinn Ewers as a cautionary tale for why staying in school and maximizing your NIL earnings while you can is the smart financial move. 

According to Horns247’s Chip Brown, Ewers turned down an $8 million NIL offer from another college program to enter the 2025 NFL Draft. The Miami Dolphins took Ewers in the seventh round and, as the 231st pick, it is estimated that he’ll make roughly $4.3 million over the life of his rookie contract (per Spotrac). 

As the draft moved along and quarterbacks like Graham Mertz and Riley Leonard were selected before Ewers, the jokes were out in full force. Ewers made a mistake leaving the college game. Ewers is a bust. Ewers this and Ewers that. NBC Sports’ Nicole Auerbach argued that the biggest non-Shedeur Sanders storyline of the draft was that Ewers should have entered the transfer portal instead. 

(This isn’t commentary on Auerbach or her assertion, to be clear. If the conversation is just about finances, there’s no argument.) 

Here’s the thing. If the transfer portal, as it currently functions in college football, is a problem, then the way Ewers handled his Texas tenure and his draft departure has to be the solution. 

You can’t lament that there’s no loyalty in college football anymore and then snicker at the guy who prioritized loyalty. 

This wasn’t about ego. There’s zero chance Ewers thought he’d be a first-round pick. Ewers wanted to be in the NFL, and he was willing to bet on himself. Ewers chose legacy over a bag. If we want to start to fix the transfer mess, that kind of a decision needs to be celebrated. 

And make no mistake. We have a hot, runny, stinking transfer mess in college football. 

Players switch schools in the winter and then hop back into the transfer portal in the spring. Players are induced with NIL offers before the thought of transferring enters their minds. Players are making life absolutely miserable for people whose job it is to build rosters. 

And there’s nothing wrong with players earning their money. But professionals don’t get to jump ship on a whim. Professionals sign contracts and when they don’t adhere to those contracts, there are real-world consequences. 

We have no such environment in college football, and the sport is worse for it. 

At the risk of sounding overly romantic, Ewers is a beacon of what makes college football so beloved. And he’s a dying breed.

Fans care about the badge. They care for the school. It’s why some places still don’t even have names on the backs of jerseys. Part of the magic is that the truly special teams are fleeting. Players have just a few seasons to make their mark. At some places, you can get your jersey retired for a couple of statistically strong seasons and .500 ball. In most instances, though, legacies are built across 4 years. 

College football today is very transactional. But some of the icons in the sport are so because of their endurance. Tim Tebow had a Heisman season and he had national championship seasons. Arguably, the iconic Tebow moment has nothing to do with the highest individual honor. The speech got its own plaque. That moment wouldn’t carry the same weight if Tebow bounced around to 3 schools in 5 years.

Ewers didn’t make a mistake leaving Texas for the NFL. 

He made a choice. 

Respecting the distinction might lead more players to take the same path.

“Texas was the only place he wanted to play college football,” Southlake Carroll head coach Riley Dodge, Ewers’s coach before Texas, told Horns247. “He wanted to leave Texas in good standing.”

Think about where the Longhorns were as a program before Ewers made his debut. 

Texas was the butt of the joke. “Texas is back” was a condescending statement. Texas was losing to Big 12 bottom-feeders. The year before Ewers’ arrival, Texas lost 7 games, including a 57-56 embarrassment at home to Kansas. 

From 2010-21, 12 seasons that predated Ewers and followed the BCS Championship loss to Alabama, Texas had just a single 10-win season. Texas never sniffed the College Football Playoff. Texas had 9 seasons that ended with at least 5 losses. 

Ewers won 27 games in 3 seasons as a starter. He led Texas to a Big 12 championship in 2023, the school’s first conference title since 2009. He led Texas to the SEC Championship Game in its first season in the conference. He led Texas to consecutive CFP semifinal appearances. He beat Alabama. He beat Michigan on the road to push Texas into the AP Poll’s top spot. He was unbelievable in the Peach Bowl win over Arizona State. 

He had his flaws, but there might only be 2 quarterbacks this century who had better Texas careers than Ewers.

In 2024, Ewers played with an oblique injury that never gave quarter and a fanbase that much preferred to see his famous understudy. All throughout, Ewers was the good soldier. No complaints, no drama, no controversy. He played for Texas. 

And Texas only.

“Growing up (in Texas), it was hard leaving and it was even harder being away from Texas,” Ewers said on The Saturday Down South Podcast last December. “I grew up wanting to play here and it took me a minute to really realize that.”

Coaches want that mentality. 

Fans want to see that mentality from their favorite teams. 

So we have to appreciate it when we get it.

You won’t get any jeering from this Oklahoma grad over the seventh-round selection for the decorated Texas quarterback. We need more of Ewers’ mentality throughout college football.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.