STILLWATER – Back in March when A.J. Ferrari was marching through the bracket knocking off higher-seeded wrestlers and winning the NCAA 197-pound individual championship he was setting himself up for the now legal pay day for college athletes. Name, image, and likeness is now legal for college athletes in that the NCAA and close to 20 states have put into law or executive order the right for them to endorse products, be social media influencers, sign autographs, and basically do anything within reason to profit from their NIL provided they don’t mix it with their college institution or take pay for play, which is still forbidden by the NCAA.
While we know that as many as six Oklahoma State Cowboys football players have representation for the purpose of arranging deals to profit from name, image, and likeness. It is Ferrari that struck first with a t-shirt deal and a new line introduced by Near Fall Clothes, a line of wrestling associated clothing.
The t-shirts featuring Ferrari and his likeness has logos with his name and nickname “Mr. Fasttwitch”. They also have the slogan on back that he made famous in postmatch interviews at the NCAA following the semifinals and finals of his legendary weight room feat of “665-pound deadlift baby!”
“He and his dad have been working on this for a long time,” senior associate athletic director Kevin Klintworth told Pokes Report. Klintworth has been working on NIL for Oklahoma State along with senior associate athletic director for compliance Kevin Fight.
“They did it the right way,” Klintworth added in talking about Ferrari and his family and how they approached the NIL opportunity.
Those t-shirts should sell like hot cakes. Ferrari is extremely popular and has been a celebrity on campus since he arrived. His first pitch for Oklahoma State baseball has been another highlight among OSU students and fans. People love a winner and Ferrari has proven to be just that. He is a winner with personality and that is a perfect recipe for NIL opportunity.
Other NCAA student-athletes that we know of that found NIL opportunity right out of the gate included Auburn quarterback Bo Nix, who signed on to endorse Milo Tea. Miami, Fla. quarterback D’Eriq King signed on to endorse College Hunks Movers.
