The head coach of LSU Tigers, Brian Kelly, comments regarding the Name, Image, and Likeness, NIL were recently misconstrued, and it was suggested that he opposed the usage of NIL at LSU. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has recently shared his take on the situation.
Finebaum mentioned his thoughts while appearing on “McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning” and criticized sports media for leaping to conclusions swiftly without fully comprehending the context of what Kelly stated regarding the NIL.
His comments have given rise to misconceptions, and Finebaum mentioned, as per on3 dispelling them, “What happened last week was a major indictment of the sport’s media today and why, in many ways, it is not to be believed. I say that coming from a position where I’m often criticized, as you guys are, for how we handle certain stories. It was media malpractice. It was absolutely disgraceful – the way so many people took that and ran with it without having any idea of what Brian Kelly said.”
He further continued, “By the way, you don’t have to listen to 20 minutes. All you need to do is listen to two minutes of his specific answer to Jacques Doucet’s question. It made perfect sense but, by the time we get a chance to listen to it nowadays in the media, guys, everybody has already disseminated their hot takes and their kill shots. It’s very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.”
Kelly in his complete statement had mentioned, “We’re selling something a little bit differently. We’re not in the market of buying players. Unfortunately, right now, that’s what some guys are looking for. They want to be bought.”
Further continuing to shed light on the importance of NIL deals which was somehow missed, “Look, I understand that NIL is part of this. We have an incredible collective. We have very, very generous opportunities around the greater Baton Rouge area for NIL opportunities. So they are here but we’re not going to go out and buy players. That’s not what this is about. This was never about that.”
Finebaum also stated that it is “totally unfair” that Kelly’s comments were taken the wrong way considering the lucrative NIL deals. He further shared that Kelly is not against the NIL.
