One of the best moments from Bryce Young’s debut in Season 5 of Dr. Pepper’s Fansville is when the sheriff (played by Brian Bosworth) gets on his walkie-talkie to ask “how many NIL deals does Bryce Young have?”
The comment was in response to Young’s ad within the ad. He plays himself in Fansville. So, fittingly, he was selling something: foam fingers for Fansville Foam Finger Warehouse.
Bosworth’s fictional reaction was simply art imitating life, because it’s a question people in the real world want to know. Exactly how many NIL deals does the Heisman-winning quarterback for the University of Alabama have? It’s apparently too many for Young to keep up with.
“I don’t know a specific number,” Young said in an interview with For The Win about his Dr. Pepper partnership. “There’s hoops and stuff you gotta jump through just talking about business things. But I’ve been blessed to have the opportunities that I have, to have the partnerships that I’ve been able to have.”
OK, so he didn’t exactly clear that up. Last summer, before Young had even taken a snap as starting quarterback, ESPN reported him as having more than $800,000 in NIL deals. College and recruiting site On3 has his valuation at $3.2 million, which ranks fourth on their NIL 100 list.
These opportunities have turned the football player into a walking salesman, and the new Dr. Pepper deal allows him to add ‘actor’ to his resume. Young said being able to partner with a national brand was a no-brainer, adding that he found the Fansville campaign intriguing even as a spectator. Now, being a part of it, he admits his acting still needs a little work.
“I didn’t have any acting lessons, but I definitely felt like I should have,” Young said. “There was a great cast, great crew. So, just being able to watch them, it was a little intimidating. But I had fun with it.”
Young isn’t letting off the field stuff distract from the football, though. He’s adamant that winning is his biggest priority at Alabama. That doesn’t mean he isn’t grateful for the opportunities that NIL has afforded him. But he understands they don’t come without success on the field.
“For me, all the glory goes to God. I have a great team around me that has helped me strategically have partners and have people around me. But that’s one aspect of my life that is great and I’m super grateful for,” Young said. “But at the end of the day for me, what’s most important is being an athlete and being a student. Those are the things that dictate what I’m doing, and those are the things that take up my day and my time and that’s what all the NIL and business stuff works around.”
