This is amazing on so many levels
Rookie minicamp is about learning. Today Najee Harris learned:A) media members are at practice: "Man I thought y'all were boosters. ... that's crazy."And B) Most of us just cover the Steelers: "Bro. What? Where are you from?" pic.twitter.com/67hKxhv52A— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) May 15, 2021
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
LOL
so Saban lets boosters hang out at practice. cool, cool.
The Boosters let Saban hang out at practice....
Money = Access? Access = Money. Novel idea.
Someone should tell Saban the best way to run a program is like it's a Warsaw Pact country during the Cold War.
good chance that "boosters" = "bagmen" too
Probably learned that he did not get wads of money handed to him either...
Danny Kanell went on a little side tangent about this kind of stuff on a recent Cover 3 podcast. He said he got ~$1500 in hundred dollar handshakes throughout his two years starting and ~$2500 worth of food, entertainment, etc type hookups. Given he is still connected closely to college football he maintains the amount that most players get paid is greatly exaggerated most of the time. Godfrey has weighed in on this many times as well. The big bags are less common than people think, and it's usually not the top dogs dropping them, it's usually the aspirant climbers.
He's also talking about his experience 30ish years ago. Different world today.
And Godfrey wrote the big bagmen expose in 2014 "Meet the Bag Men". He is as clued in as anyone can be from the outside on how that world works.
Edit: For anyone interested, here is the 2014 article I'm referencing.
That was a while ago and $4k worth of handshakes is still a pretty nice benefit. I agree it is probably overblown, but it is still enough to be skeptical about the extent of what goes on.
The 'big bags' don't even go to the players - it goes to the family - New job for your dad, covering a $5k fix for your uncle's car, picking up rent for your single mom, etc
That was how Cam Newton kept his NCAA eligibility. They bought his Dad a new church. Not Cam.
That's the Post-LOI walking around money. There was probably bigger pre-LOI money which isn't mentioned (but is documented elsewhere anecdotally).
However I wouldn't be surprised if the post-LOI hasn't gotten much bigger for some players given the transfer portal. Frankly if you're gonna break the rules, this seems like the better ROI.
Most people that have stolen state secrets from the US did so for less than $5000. They risked their career and their freedom for 5k.
So $1500 is huge to a 19 year old if there are work professionals, most probably making around 6 figures selling out for $5k
Kanell is also conveniently admitting to a number lower than the taxable threshold.
Fuente keeps practices closed off to our bagmen and boosters. He doesn't want them to see Corny's secret jet sweep.
In general some donation tiers give access to practice but you sure as hell can't handshake money