Jeremy Henderson Capstone
Self-Advocacy
Know The Rules
Having a reliable counselor and/or agent is so important to this process. As previously stated, NIL is brand new so a lot of people still don't know much about it. Having a way to know the laws and regulations of everything is crucial to your well-being. There are plenty of gray areas in this field and stepping into one of them could result in some sort of legal punishment that could not only undermine your NIL status but also your freedom. You are going to be studying, playing sports, and still trying to have a social life, so adding NIL to the mix will be a lot on your plate. Having a reliable agent or mentor will lessen the burden and you won't regret it.
Communicate
We've all heard the saying "communication is key", so it may seem overused and not valuable. I am here to tell you that communication really will get you a long way, not only in NIL negotiations but in life after college too. While you're in college or high school, take those seminars on public speaking or debate. It may not seem interesting or appealing at the time, but in the long run, when you need to sit down and negotiate your way into a better deal those skills will definitely pay off. Communication skills are more than just knowing how to speak correctly; it is also learning how to effectively persuade others to consider your viewpoint, learning how to respectfully express your emotions and thoughts with others, and learning how to properly place your ideas onto paper for others to read and follow. Once you know how to speak, write, and negotiate for yourself, you will be so much more powerful in society.
Self-evaluate
One problem many athletes face from a young age is self-evaluation. Athletes tend to picture themselves as someone more skilled than they actually are. This is usually the case with all sports at all divisions. For example, a second-string runningback naturally feels like he should get more playing time or the alternate leg on a relay will typically feel like they should knock the slowest leg off the relay. This is not a problem because it fosters a more competitive spirit and keeps the lesser-skilled players on a team hungry to improve their skills. Philosopher, Thomas Reid once stated that "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link." The same concept applies to a team because every person relies on the next person in order to accomplish the number one goal: winning. On the contrary, this same idea that athletes are better than they really are is pretty detrimental to the process of obtaining NIL deals. The athletes begin to compare themselves to the highest-paid athletes because that's what the media shows them. This results in two problematic results: passing on deals in search of one with higher value and creating a sense of self-doubt. If people would understand and recognize their reality then that would help them search for appropriate deals. This can be a hard concept for athletes to grasp because athletes also tend to have some ego.