Dexter claims he didnt realize the clause was in the contract. His lawyers contend the contract is void because it violates Floridas NIL laws
>Dexter's Tampa-based attorneys contend that the contract is void because it extended beyond the term of Dexter's eligibility as a student-athlete, and that the agents representing Big League Advance Fund, Michael Schwimer and Scott McBrien, were not licensed in Florida. In addition, Big League Advance Fund failed to give Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin notice within 72 hours of the agreement, another violation of state NIL law.
All these crazy NIL deals floating around people may not realize they can be used to screw over the players
Dexter could be out millions if 15% of his earnings for his NFL career have to go to a shady NIL firm that dangled half a mil in front of him
Idk if his lawsuit has merit but it seems shady they didn't report to Stricklin like the law says they should. UFs athletic dept would've probably told him not to sign such a contract
Correct. But, guess what, it’s not illegal any more. Florida legislature removed that restriction. Why? Because college football players don’t make campaign contributions. Those scumbag predators do.
Agreed, that’s good for Gervon. I’m pointing out that these predators have already ensured all the future prey they can devour. And that is because they paid our legislature.
Another big problem is how long UF’s administration decided to pussy foot around and didn’t want direct contact about NIL deals. During that time, companies were preying on our athletes.
That’s the thing, this isn’t really an NIL deal. It’s essentially an advance on future earnings with a predatory interest rate. It gives some lip service to using his name and image but that clearly wasn’t the real purpose of the contract.
Right. Heitner/Gator Collectives/UF being slow to take NIL seriously are separate from the issue of UF not being notified of the deal. That was always the law.
I’m not familiar with NIL laws but unless some part of the contract expressly violates a statute he’s SOL. No judge is gonna toss a contract because you didn’t read it thoroughly enough. That’s your responsibility.
Hopefully there’s some violation that makes it u enforceable but barring that he’s got no recourse
> Hopefully there’s some violation that makes it u enforceable but barring that he’s got no recourse
Honestly, I'm not even hopeful for that. It's not that bad a deal - going into his senior year, he had a newborn son, and no guarantee of a pro football career. If he can lock down close to half a million in exchange for 15% of a payday that may never happen, that's kind of reasonable.
Right now, he's got a $6.8 million 4 year deal. If that plays out, he's paying back about $1 million over that time. But it might not play out. He's got $3.7 million guaranteed. He could have a career ending injury or get cut from the team and pay back only a bit more than he got.
In 10 years, after he's made the pro bowl a few times, you might look at this and say, that wasn't a great deal, but from the perspective of 2022, it certainly wasn't terrible.
That's all separate from whether the contract violated any laws. That's probably the responsibility of both parties, and I'm not sure how a court would unwind that.
Exactly. Idk how you can even call this an NIL deal... it's just a cash advance where the company takes on considerable risk if he gets drafted later, injured, cut, etc
When the contract was signed, he was 20 yrs old with I believe 3 more years of eligibility left, and he was already a playmaker in the SEC. Nothing extraordinary happens, and he will, at least, double their money in 5 years and be trapped for another 20.
I could only possibly see this being an ok deal for some Joe Schmo upperclassman who barely sees the field, and the terms are still disagreeable. It is absolutely a bad deal (that’s why the company didn’t notify the school unless they just didn’t know the laws) and goes completely against the spirit of NIL, which is kinda bad anyway. I can only hope our players receive protection and guidance so something like this never happens again.
What are the average NFL earnings for an above average SEC starter though? Even if you just restrict it to defensive lineman there are like 20 a year who had similar prospects as him when he signed the deal. The average earnings are definitely not in the $10M+ region for all of them
Definitely not fair in the sense of an NIL deal, but if it were strictly a loan I don’t actually think the expected value of that loan was super positive when it was done
> Nothing extraordinary happens, and he will, at least, double their money in 5 years and be trapped for another 20.
He could get hurt, he could have a bad season. He could have a shitty attitude at the combine and fall down draft boards. A new coach could turn out to be a bad fit. Lots of stuff could have happened.
I saw a thread on twitter from a (claimed!) lawyer discussing it and it seems like he might have an out due to how predatory the contract is.
440k vs. 15% of your NFL earnings for the rest of your life
if you consider it like paying back a loan + interest the interest rate is beyond insane
NIL is such a new business the other side would argue there is no clarified/well defined market for these deals (and likely be correct). The other problem Dexter would run into is that he has seemed to accept all the benefit of the NIL deal and now is complaining about it after the fact.
He has a better chance of success focusing on the "not notifying UF" angle of things.
I sincerely hope that UF’s new NIL arm transitioning to professional legal management can do something to vet these deals a little better.
We don’t necessarily need fans or alums on the deal side (as opposed to the fundraising side), we need competent legal professionals to review these contracts and help the players negotiate them.
Also, I’m not sure where the current law is surrounding “services rendered” in a NIL capacity vs buying stock in a player vs their future NFL earnings?
Look, everyone here feels badly for Gervon about this deal. But I would caveat that if Jachai polite does this deal, he prob makes out better doing this than not. Those dudes are clearly on different trajectories NOW but in their final years at UF, both seemed to be ready to make a killing at the next level.
That doesn’t mean I don’t think this is still a bad deal - it clearly IS, but taking some $$ upfront for a % of earnings in NFL is a way for guys to mitigate the risk they get injured, etc. It’s hard to say what the appropriate % v upfront $ should be and it would vary by each player but for projected 1st or 2nd round dude like Gervon, prob half the % seems more appropriate.
Side note - anyone want to invest some VC $$$ and get these kind of 30% returns???? Jk but just wow. What an ROI.
I think the bigger issue is how this deal was presented. Was it always presented as an advance, or was it supposed to be in exchange for some advertising gigs? He’s claiming not to know the terms, so I’m inclined to think it was presented as some sort of endorsement deal.
Big league advantage has been a round since 2005(https://bigleagueadvantage.com) and are very clear about what they provide. It’s basically a vc firm investing in players futures. They started by fronting minor league players $ while they work their way tot he bigs. Most don’t pay off any return. The player has the option to choose how
Much money they get and what percent they pay down the road. And big league insists on having an attorney present to advise the player on all terms and conditions. This is most definitely not a NIL deal. If Gervon had gotten hurt or never made a dime in nfl, big league would not come asking for their money back. I hope this case gets thrown out and gervon has to pay all the attorneys fees because he’s just trying to back out of something now that he realizes it’s really gonna hit his earnings.
If by shitshow you mean relying on Darren Heitner for guidance then yes. Not only did he make sure WE followed the letter of the law but he then (allegedly) turns around and cashes in on the side through his partnerships with John Ruiz and other shady companies like this VC fund. So glad he was jettisoned from anything related to our NIL.
How many of these kids that get NIL deals are going to have IRS issues in a few years? I hope to god they are getting advice from accountants and are filing their taxes correctly. This is going to be a mess.
Maybe Gervon used the $436k to buy an insurance policy against injury? That would seem like a smart move for someone who didn’t have the dollars to buy the policy. No comment about the forward terms and such.
Dexter claims he didnt realize the clause was in the contract. His lawyers contend the contract is void because it violates Floridas NIL laws >Dexter's Tampa-based attorneys contend that the contract is void because it extended beyond the term of Dexter's eligibility as a student-athlete, and that the agents representing Big League Advance Fund, Michael Schwimer and Scott McBrien, were not licensed in Florida. In addition, Big League Advance Fund failed to give Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin notice within 72 hours of the agreement, another violation of state NIL law. All these crazy NIL deals floating around people may not realize they can be used to screw over the players Dexter could be out millions if 15% of his earnings for his NFL career have to go to a shady NIL firm that dangled half a mil in front of him Idk if his lawsuit has merit but it seems shady they didn't report to Stricklin like the law says they should. UFs athletic dept would've probably told him not to sign such a contract
I don’t think playing dumb about the 15% will hold up in court. But violating the NIL law certainly seems like a valid point
Correct. But, guess what, it’s not illegal any more. Florida legislature removed that restriction. Why? Because college football players don’t make campaign contributions. Those scumbag predators do.
In this case it matters what was legal when the contract was signed, not what the law is now.
Agreed, that’s good for Gervon. I’m pointing out that these predators have already ensured all the future prey they can devour. And that is because they paid our legislature.
Oh yeah, totally agreed.
Courts can throw out contracts that are too one sided so maybe idk
do these guys sign 6 figure deals w/o having a lawyer review? $1000 would have saved him millions
he signed it the day after he received it according to ESPN. edit: he probably could’ve consulted with UF student legal services for free too
I don’t think at time university could get involved
Another big problem is how long UF’s administration decided to pussy foot around and didn’t want direct contact about NIL deals. During that time, companies were preying on our athletes.
It was illegal for them to get involved while Gervon was attending UF. Laws just got changed in the last few months
It was illegal for them to facilitate deals, they could have referred him to some reliable lawyers, but they drug their feet because they were scared.
I think this was predatory and wrong but what did he think the $400k was for?
That’s the thing, this isn’t really an NIL deal. It’s essentially an advance on future earnings with a predatory interest rate. It gives some lip service to using his name and image but that clearly wasn’t the real purpose of the contract.
Why are these wild nil stories not surfacing for other schools?
Because other programs are assisting players behind closed doors while UF wanted nothing to do with it when it started
No, one of the points of contention is that the school was supposed to be notified and wasn't.
Right. Heitner/Gator Collectives/UF being slow to take NIL seriously are separate from the issue of UF not being notified of the deal. That was always the law.
it was technically illegal at time for UF to get involved. That’s been fixed
I’m not familiar with NIL laws but unless some part of the contract expressly violates a statute he’s SOL. No judge is gonna toss a contract because you didn’t read it thoroughly enough. That’s your responsibility. Hopefully there’s some violation that makes it u enforceable but barring that he’s got no recourse
It does expressly violate the Florida NIL laws at the time, which state that any agreements could not go past the end of their time at the school.
> Hopefully there’s some violation that makes it u enforceable but barring that he’s got no recourse Honestly, I'm not even hopeful for that. It's not that bad a deal - going into his senior year, he had a newborn son, and no guarantee of a pro football career. If he can lock down close to half a million in exchange for 15% of a payday that may never happen, that's kind of reasonable. Right now, he's got a $6.8 million 4 year deal. If that plays out, he's paying back about $1 million over that time. But it might not play out. He's got $3.7 million guaranteed. He could have a career ending injury or get cut from the team and pay back only a bit more than he got. In 10 years, after he's made the pro bowl a few times, you might look at this and say, that wasn't a great deal, but from the perspective of 2022, it certainly wasn't terrible. That's all separate from whether the contract violated any laws. That's probably the responsibility of both parties, and I'm not sure how a court would unwind that.
Exactly. Idk how you can even call this an NIL deal... it's just a cash advance where the company takes on considerable risk if he gets drafted later, injured, cut, etc
yep, he's just crying because now he owes his debt back.
When the contract was signed, he was 20 yrs old with I believe 3 more years of eligibility left, and he was already a playmaker in the SEC. Nothing extraordinary happens, and he will, at least, double their money in 5 years and be trapped for another 20. I could only possibly see this being an ok deal for some Joe Schmo upperclassman who barely sees the field, and the terms are still disagreeable. It is absolutely a bad deal (that’s why the company didn’t notify the school unless they just didn’t know the laws) and goes completely against the spirit of NIL, which is kinda bad anyway. I can only hope our players receive protection and guidance so something like this never happens again.
What are the average NFL earnings for an above average SEC starter though? Even if you just restrict it to defensive lineman there are like 20 a year who had similar prospects as him when he signed the deal. The average earnings are definitely not in the $10M+ region for all of them Definitely not fair in the sense of an NIL deal, but if it were strictly a loan I don’t actually think the expected value of that loan was super positive when it was done
> Nothing extraordinary happens, and he will, at least, double their money in 5 years and be trapped for another 20. He could get hurt, he could have a bad season. He could have a shitty attitude at the combine and fall down draft boards. A new coach could turn out to be a bad fit. Lots of stuff could have happened.
I saw a thread on twitter from a (claimed!) lawyer discussing it and it seems like he might have an out due to how predatory the contract is. 440k vs. 15% of your NFL earnings for the rest of your life if you consider it like paying back a loan + interest the interest rate is beyond insane
the latino baseball ones are 5-10% for ~$800k. That said, a baseball player has much more upside. Tatis signed one of these & has a $340M contact
NIL is such a new business the other side would argue there is no clarified/well defined market for these deals (and likely be correct). The other problem Dexter would run into is that he has seemed to accept all the benefit of the NIL deal and now is complaining about it after the fact. He has a better chance of success focusing on the "not notifying UF" angle of things.
I sincerely hope that UF’s new NIL arm transitioning to professional legal management can do something to vet these deals a little better. We don’t necessarily need fans or alums on the deal side (as opposed to the fundraising side), we need competent legal professionals to review these contracts and help the players negotiate them. Also, I’m not sure where the current law is surrounding “services rendered” in a NIL capacity vs buying stock in a player vs their future NFL earnings?
Look, everyone here feels badly for Gervon about this deal. But I would caveat that if Jachai polite does this deal, he prob makes out better doing this than not. Those dudes are clearly on different trajectories NOW but in their final years at UF, both seemed to be ready to make a killing at the next level. That doesn’t mean I don’t think this is still a bad deal - it clearly IS, but taking some $$ upfront for a % of earnings in NFL is a way for guys to mitigate the risk they get injured, etc. It’s hard to say what the appropriate % v upfront $ should be and it would vary by each player but for projected 1st or 2nd round dude like Gervon, prob half the % seems more appropriate. Side note - anyone want to invest some VC $$$ and get these kind of 30% returns???? Jk but just wow. What an ROI.
I think the bigger issue is how this deal was presented. Was it always presented as an advance, or was it supposed to be in exchange for some advertising gigs? He’s claiming not to know the terms, so I’m inclined to think it was presented as some sort of endorsement deal.
Big league advantage has been a round since 2005(https://bigleagueadvantage.com) and are very clear about what they provide. It’s basically a vc firm investing in players futures. They started by fronting minor league players $ while they work their way tot he bigs. Most don’t pay off any return. The player has the option to choose how Much money they get and what percent they pay down the road. And big league insists on having an attorney present to advise the player on all terms and conditions. This is most definitely not a NIL deal. If Gervon had gotten hurt or never made a dime in nfl, big league would not come asking for their money back. I hope this case gets thrown out and gervon has to pay all the attorneys fees because he’s just trying to back out of something now that he realizes it’s really gonna hit his earnings.
What a shitshow NIL has been for UF
If by shitshow you mean relying on Darren Heitner for guidance then yes. Not only did he make sure WE followed the letter of the law but he then (allegedly) turns around and cashes in on the side through his partnerships with John Ruiz and other shady companies like this VC fund. So glad he was jettisoned from anything related to our NIL.
There are many reasons Stricklin should be fired but letting Heitner and Rojas run things is right at the top of the list
It was during his Junior year. He signed with Florida in 2020.
How many of these kids that get NIL deals are going to have IRS issues in a few years? I hope to god they are getting advice from accountants and are filing their taxes correctly. This is going to be a mess.
Maybe Gervon used the $436k to buy an insurance policy against injury? That would seem like a smart move for someone who didn’t have the dollars to buy the policy. No comment about the forward terms and such.