The top Texas A&M NIL ads that aren’t real, but totally should be

When name, image and likeness (NIL) first came onto the college football scene, I, like many others, thought we’d soon see an onslaught of college athletes in commercials and ads, be it local ones for lesser-known athletes or national ones for the more high-profile players. And while that’s happened to some extent, I think NIL has become much more about collectives and team-wide payouts much more than most of us expected. And that’s a shame.

There are lots of incredible partnerships to be had between college athletes and brands, and with it all being above board, that should be embraced. With that in mind, we present some of the Texas A&M football NIL partnerships that, while they aren’t real, should absolutely happen.

Haynes King + Sling TV

More and more fans are cutting the cord and watching games via live TV streaming, so it only makes sense for these streaming services to start partnering with athletes to promote the product. This one in particular even brings the built in nickname of “The King of Sling.”

Smoke Bouie + Fargo’s Pit BBQ

When your name is Smoke, you’ve got a lot of sponsorship options. This just happens to be more of the more family friendly of those options.

Hunter Erb + Head & Shoulders

Following in the footsteps of Troy Polamalu, Erb has the chance for a big payday with this national ad spot.

Fadill Diggs & Isaiah Raikes + Harbor Freight Tools

Nothing says “local TV spot” like shoehorned puns and rhymes.

Yulkeith Brown + Santa’s Wonderland

It may be more a seasonal campaign, but the tie-in is too obvious to ignore.

Moose Muhammad III + Moos’s Taxidermy

There’s a good chance you didn’t even know this Brazos Valley taxidermist existed, which is exactly why they could benefit from an athlete-sponsored ad deal! Muhammad gets a nice payday, and a local business sees a huge spike in visibility, we get this incredible visual. Win-win-win.

Ainias Smith + Victorinox

This is the one we all saw coming. When your nickname is “The Swiss Army Knife” it’s not a stretch of the imagination. But this illustrates that athlete partnerships don’t have to be over the top, obvious and hammy. They can still be classy and subtle. The background color of this ad is called “bone.” My god, it’s even got a watermark.