John - thanks for the backstory and such thorough reporting. Having said that, ugh. College football as a "product" for us viewers/consumers is becoming disgusting and disintegrating slowly. Such a turn-off.
As a life long OSU Beaver donor , and GiantKiller ‘67 Class Alumnus, it is very difficult to get excited about OSU sports anymore knowing that the players we all love to watch in Orange and Black will be gone to the Portal in a heartbeat ; “ loyalty” words are meaningless now. The NCAA has lost their minds not policing what is happening now. The Golden Goose of Amateurism, which worked for so long successfully is now a thing of the past . Money rules all decisions now . Gone are the days of Honor and faithfulness.
Greed and Avarice now rule College sports . Goodbye College sports as we used to know it .🥲
Ho hum…whatever. The fan base has been whipsawed and jerked around ever since the midnight bushwhacking last August. Like many, I’m numb to all of this at this point. Although I doubt it will happen, realistic guidelines must be put in place to make sure there is some sort of equivalence in these poaching….err … I mean portal transactions. Such that a program losing a player is in some way compensated for costs of development invested in the player. This could be a transfer fee which would be paid by the destination program’s a NIL entity. Of course, this would need to be implemented and enforced by the governing body. As long as the NCAA is beholden to media interests, the likelihood of this falls into the “fat chance” column.
Could NOT of seen something like this coming...............Said NO ONE EVER. I'm sure this scenario is going to play out 100 x's over the next few weeks. Why I'm reluctant to give any money to NiL. Waiting for Saudi money or ESPN to buy college football outright, and do away with this charade of "student athlete" . #newworld :(
Great piece, thanks John. I admire and greatly value your investigative reporting on stuff that matters, like getting the truth out on this story.
One additional thought: if Martinez wants to show he is the "No. 1 running back for next year’s draft class," I don't think he can do that with the Beavers' 2024 schedule. He needs to be in more games that will have broader (potentially national) audience against ranked teams. The Beavers 2024 opponents, other than Oregon, don't offer that.
I don’t understand why anyone would contribute to NIL collectives, especially fans who think it is a good idea to pay an obviously immature 20 year old $400,000 to play football. I would assume the majority of small donors don’t make anywhere near that amount annually.
All the posts that I saw on this said that Damien said that Dam Nation lied to him. Did he not say that? Is he backtracking? Did the agent put out false information? Either way, it sucks totally for the Beavs, but where was that narrative coming from?? I'm guessing he's sitting in Florida right now.
NIL coupled with no restrictions on transfers is coach crazy-making. I think we will see more college coaches off to the NFL until there is a 'CFB union' that 'management' can negotiate with and allow a divided Congress to provide some level of protection for CFB against anti-trust litigation, etc.
IMO, all of 'this' will lead to a further contraction of championship-quality CFB programs and not an expansion to an 80-team Super League.
First, there shouldn’t be a spring transfer portal for football. One portal at the end of the season is plenty, plus the supplemental 30 day one if there is a head coach change.
Second, I think many are overstating the loss of Martinez. He’s a real good RB, but from what I’ve seen so far, he wouldn’t fit the new system at OSU all that great. There is still quite a bit of talent in the RB room, with more coming possibly.
Third, this is exactly why college football is rapidly becoming unwatchable. It all just feels dirty all around. There have to be better controls instituted on all parties. Having basically free agency all the time will not work in the long run for the athletes, schools, and fans.
Good reporting John. This story helped me plan my fall schedule. One that does not include college football and OSU football. Yuck. I had a hunch college football was dirty, but this story confirms it.
Dam Nation delivered. Gorman got Dame's ear and told him things that probably weren't true about about his situation at OSU. Maybe he couldn't be great at OSU or he could make a lot more money on the open market. Another theory is DM had several brushes with the law and wanted a fresh start. Who knows. I give the 20 year old a pass, he's young. I've also moved on. Right now, I'm looking at the present stable of RBs in Corvallis who will be successful this fall. Jam and Hank will fill the shoes in 2024.
I see this as yet another episode of well-meaning people trying to do what they see as the right or best thing colliding with other well-meaning people trying to do with a different view of what the right thing to do is.
The whole NIL/Transfer Portal/Conference Alignment/Media deal/Coach movement/side deals/etc ecostructure is symptomatic of a poorly thought out total package, resulting in a free for all.
The cause is years (decades) of stubborn resistance to any measures to address shortcomings that people are now acting largely on their own to address. A failure of management and leadership of epic proportions to create a system where much of what is happening just wouldn't happen because proper management and leadership would have addressed it before it became a critical mass problem.
I hope DM finds his pot of gold someday. Hope his agent didn't mislead him. I can understand Beaver Nation being unhappy a short term decision with long term impact.
Whether he got $92,000 or $100,000, what benefit or services is he providing going forward ? Zero. Did he receive that first payment after he declared he was staying and after last season was over. Are they not entering into contracts on these deals? If a coach leaves before his contract is up there is a buyout. I would hope there’s a similar system in place for NIL. This is all crazy! Professional athletes have less flexibility in some cases than college kids. At least there are rules in place there and until the NCAA (or some other governing body) puts rules in place in college I’m done with it. I’ll support the baseball team….for now.
College football is rapidly approaching the point where it is unrecognizable. No longer are fans rooting for their favorite players on their favorite teams; they’re being forced to root only for jerseys as the players bounce from team to team. And the drama swirling around the teams and players is the stuff of soap opera scripts. Often college football fans have deeper emotional ties to their favorite team than they do to an NFL franchise because they are somehow tied to the university- they or a family member are alumni, for example. NIL and the portal, undermine and betray the connection college football fans have with their teams and the individual players. Why must college football as an institution make it so hard to find the pleasure it once provided?
John - thanks for the backstory and such thorough reporting. Having said that, ugh. College football as a "product" for us viewers/consumers is becoming disgusting and disintegrating slowly. Such a turn-off.
John.
As a life long OSU Beaver donor , and GiantKiller ‘67 Class Alumnus, it is very difficult to get excited about OSU sports anymore knowing that the players we all love to watch in Orange and Black will be gone to the Portal in a heartbeat ; “ loyalty” words are meaningless now. The NCAA has lost their minds not policing what is happening now. The Golden Goose of Amateurism, which worked for so long successfully is now a thing of the past . Money rules all decisions now . Gone are the days of Honor and faithfulness.
Greed and Avarice now rule College sports . Goodbye College sports as we used to know it .🥲
Rand Wintermute
OSU , class of 1967
The key information in this article is the shiny new agent in Florida. It's no coincidence that new agent and transfer happened together.
Ho hum…whatever. The fan base has been whipsawed and jerked around ever since the midnight bushwhacking last August. Like many, I’m numb to all of this at this point. Although I doubt it will happen, realistic guidelines must be put in place to make sure there is some sort of equivalence in these poaching….err … I mean portal transactions. Such that a program losing a player is in some way compensated for costs of development invested in the player. This could be a transfer fee which would be paid by the destination program’s a NIL entity. Of course, this would need to be implemented and enforced by the governing body. As long as the NCAA is beholden to media interests, the likelihood of this falls into the “fat chance” column.
Could NOT of seen something like this coming...............Said NO ONE EVER. I'm sure this scenario is going to play out 100 x's over the next few weeks. Why I'm reluctant to give any money to NiL. Waiting for Saudi money or ESPN to buy college football outright, and do away with this charade of "student athlete" . #newworld :(
Great piece, thanks John. I admire and greatly value your investigative reporting on stuff that matters, like getting the truth out on this story.
One additional thought: if Martinez wants to show he is the "No. 1 running back for next year’s draft class," I don't think he can do that with the Beavers' 2024 schedule. He needs to be in more games that will have broader (potentially national) audience against ranked teams. The Beavers 2024 opponents, other than Oregon, don't offer that.
I don’t understand why anyone would contribute to NIL collectives, especially fans who think it is a good idea to pay an obviously immature 20 year old $400,000 to play football. I would assume the majority of small donors don’t make anywhere near that amount annually.
All the posts that I saw on this said that Damien said that Dam Nation lied to him. Did he not say that? Is he backtracking? Did the agent put out false information? Either way, it sucks totally for the Beavs, but where was that narrative coming from?? I'm guessing he's sitting in Florida right now.
Was The Wild Wild West this wild?
NIL coupled with no restrictions on transfers is coach crazy-making. I think we will see more college coaches off to the NFL until there is a 'CFB union' that 'management' can negotiate with and allow a divided Congress to provide some level of protection for CFB against anti-trust litigation, etc.
IMO, all of 'this' will lead to a further contraction of championship-quality CFB programs and not an expansion to an 80-team Super League.
First, there shouldn’t be a spring transfer portal for football. One portal at the end of the season is plenty, plus the supplemental 30 day one if there is a head coach change.
Second, I think many are overstating the loss of Martinez. He’s a real good RB, but from what I’ve seen so far, he wouldn’t fit the new system at OSU all that great. There is still quite a bit of talent in the RB room, with more coming possibly.
Third, this is exactly why college football is rapidly becoming unwatchable. It all just feels dirty all around. There have to be better controls instituted on all parties. Having basically free agency all the time will not work in the long run for the athletes, schools, and fans.
Good reporting John. This story helped me plan my fall schedule. One that does not include college football and OSU football. Yuck. I had a hunch college football was dirty, but this story confirms it.
Dam Nation delivered. Gorman got Dame's ear and told him things that probably weren't true about about his situation at OSU. Maybe he couldn't be great at OSU or he could make a lot more money on the open market. Another theory is DM had several brushes with the law and wanted a fresh start. Who knows. I give the 20 year old a pass, he's young. I've also moved on. Right now, I'm looking at the present stable of RBs in Corvallis who will be successful this fall. Jam and Hank will fill the shoes in 2024.
Great insight into a multi-tentacled issue.
I see this as yet another episode of well-meaning people trying to do what they see as the right or best thing colliding with other well-meaning people trying to do with a different view of what the right thing to do is.
The whole NIL/Transfer Portal/Conference Alignment/Media deal/Coach movement/side deals/etc ecostructure is symptomatic of a poorly thought out total package, resulting in a free for all.
The cause is years (decades) of stubborn resistance to any measures to address shortcomings that people are now acting largely on their own to address. A failure of management and leadership of epic proportions to create a system where much of what is happening just wouldn't happen because proper management and leadership would have addressed it before it became a critical mass problem.
I hope DM finds his pot of gold someday. Hope his agent didn't mislead him. I can understand Beaver Nation being unhappy a short term decision with long term impact.
Whether he got $92,000 or $100,000, what benefit or services is he providing going forward ? Zero. Did he receive that first payment after he declared he was staying and after last season was over. Are they not entering into contracts on these deals? If a coach leaves before his contract is up there is a buyout. I would hope there’s a similar system in place for NIL. This is all crazy! Professional athletes have less flexibility in some cases than college kids. At least there are rules in place there and until the NCAA (or some other governing body) puts rules in place in college I’m done with it. I’ll support the baseball team….for now.
College football is rapidly approaching the point where it is unrecognizable. No longer are fans rooting for their favorite players on their favorite teams; they’re being forced to root only for jerseys as the players bounce from team to team. And the drama swirling around the teams and players is the stuff of soap opera scripts. Often college football fans have deeper emotional ties to their favorite team than they do to an NFL franchise because they are somehow tied to the university- they or a family member are alumni, for example. NIL and the portal, undermine and betray the connection college football fans have with their teams and the individual players. Why must college football as an institution make it so hard to find the pleasure it once provided?