INDIANAPOLIS — The ballrooms that flank the hotel lobbies here at the NFL Scouting Combine have long marked the intersection of college football and the NFL, a collision of ambition and entrepreneurialism that comes at players’ professional crossroads.

Last week, a trading card company had nightclub smoke and oversized televisions for video games as a way to entertain players. Across the hall, a Pop-A-Shot machine flanked a financial planning company’s room. From sneakers to jewelry to NFTs, the opportunities for top prospects are boundless.

Amid the streets of Indianapolis at this year’s combine, however, a collective acknowledgement emerged that the Combine no longer represents an early beacon of professional opportunity for elite football players. The NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness legislation, which was passed July 1, has redefined the traditional paradigms of how and when players can make money.

“Many see this as the end to college football as they know it, but in reality, NIL simply puts an end to the misnomer that is ‘amateurism,'” said David Mulugheta, a prominent NFL player agent with Athletes First. “College athletes are professionals, both on and off the field, and should be fairly compensated as so.”

In just a few months, the professionalization of amateur football players has indelibly changed the landscape. College players no longer have to wait until they are three years removed from their high school graduation to find formal representation or profit from marketing deals.

Sourced from ESPN