The college football landscape changed completely when name, image and likeness deals became legal. NIL now drives every major conversation in the sport.
Recruiting rankings, playoff predictions, and championship hopes all start with one question: how much money can programs pay players?
Before NIL, programs sold recruits on tradition and winning history. Now it’s about budgets. Teams with deep pockets are beating programs that relied on their legacy.
A fake news story about Nebraska spread across social media this week. It highlighted just how much fans want solutions to college football’s current problems.
Shane Tuttle, who runs a known parody account @ShaneTuttleNCAA, posted a fake “breaking news” graphic. The image showed Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule with text claiming he’d implemented a new policy.
According to the fake report, Rhule required all Nebraska players to receive identical NIL compensation.
Nobody’s bigger than the team
I heard this is exactly what the players wanted
What a day to be a Husker and an American https://t.co/jbD0eh5Y2m
— Will Compton (@_willcompton) June 19, 2026
Will Compton shared the fake story without checking if it was real. The former NFL linebacker posted it to his followers with enthusiasm.
Simple math should have revealed the story’s problems immediately.
Front Office Sports reported Nebraska’s entire football operating budget at $84 million. The Cornhuskers ranked fourth nationally in operational spending at the time.
Most of that budget covers expenses beyond player recruitment. Even if NIL consumed 25 percent of Nebraska’s total budget, each player would receive roughly $180,000 under this fake policy.
That amount falls well below current market rates for top college football players.
The fake policy claimed players wanted equal compensation. But considering the low per-player payout, that seems unlikely.
Compton’s willingness to spread unverified news raises questions about his actual connections to the Nebraska program.
College football hasn’t figured out how NIL will work long-term. The current system benefits programs with the largest budgets while leaving others behind.
The House Settlement provides some structure. It allocates $20.5 million to every athletic department from TV revenue to pay players directly.
That money covers all sports, not just football. It also comes on top of individual NIL deals players can still negotiate.
Congress is working on the Protect College Sports Act to create federal oversight. The Senate Committee on Commerce advanced the bill with a 19-9 vote.
No date has been scheduled for the full Senate vote.
