Jaden Rashada joins powerhouse Arizona State; named starting QB as true freshman

[klgator]

No one has brought this up, and I am curious. Eddie Rojas, founder of the Gator Collective, resigned just before Christmas. Could there be any correlation between that and this NIL debacle?

 

[Silverback Gator]

Why would we pay him hush money?

It's just that, between the lines, something happened. Rashada and his handlers would not want to come out of this appearing to be untrustworthy. If we made a mistake where we offered something(our NIL), then could not or decided not to deliver, his side might have standing to get something in return for going away but not discussing the details or releasing statements about what actually happened. Obviously everyone wants to know. We might not want him to discuss it or release any statements or opinions.

 

[B52G8rAC]

The answer is the high schooler and his parents thought 135000 was 13.5 million. Arithmetic is fundamental.

 

[Egor's Assistant]

No one has brought this up, and I am curious. Eddie Rojas, founder of the Gator Collective, resigned just before Christmas. Could there be any correlation between that and this NIL debacle?

Seems likely. Rojas made promises that everyone else thought was excessive and would lead to escalating ruin.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Billy has a previous relationship with him being that he’s from Lafayette….

You might have answered your own question....

 

[g8r.tom]

How crazy is it that at one point we had Stokes and Rashada and now we have neither.
Monday morning QB here but at the time I did not like getting rid of Stokes. That decision might come back to bite us in the butt.

It’s the reason we did I didn’t like.

 

[Silverback Gator]

The answer is the high schooler and his parents thought 135000 was 13.5 million. Arithmetic is fundamental.

Not in Oregon.

 

[Back Alley Gator]

Kudos for The Last Boy Scout gif.

@SaltGator ,it was the first of the two gifs in the post.

 

[Silverback Gator]

No one has brought this up, and I am curious. Eddie Rojas, founder of the Gator Collective, resigned just before Christmas. Could there be any correlation between that and this NIL debacle?

Seems likely. Rojas made promises that everyone else thought was excessive and would lead to escalating ruin.

Perhaps that’s true. It fits, but who knows. It remains possible he left because our NIL is dysfunctional. But if we made a mistake- too large an offer- another reason, if true, we might have had to cut a deal to make him go away, quietly.

What if it turned out the mistake was a comma mistake in text or email, something informal that became expectation. Geez.

 

[Dunder]

Perhaps that’s true. It fits, but who knows. It remains possible he left because our NIL is dysfunctional. But if we made a mistake- too large an offer- another reason, if true, we might have had to cut a deal to make him go away, quietly.

What if it turned out the mistake was a comma mistake in text or email, something informal that became expectation. Geez.

 

[TN G8tr]

Isn't it still true that we do not know which entity caused the issue that ultimately resulted in Rashada and UF to part ways? We would like to believe fault is on Rashada's side, but we have no real knowledge. Our NIL could have made offers that were not honored. I read we have to pay miami's NIL something? WTH! And even though we might have some leverage because of the LOI, using that could backfire on us. Maybe his side has been "corrupt" in their dealings with UF. But it really doesn't stand to reason that we offered a significant NIL agreement but his camp believes that instead of playing for a high profile school like UF, Colorado and some extra NIL promises are better for him, long term. I have a hard time believing most or all fault lies with Rashada, although I wish if that's the case, that it comes out eventually.

@Silverback Gator about the best explanation of what is thought to have happened I got from the Locked on Gators PC. In a nutshell the collective and attorney got a figure and approved by the NIL contributor. Then said attorney, collective, Rashada's got the offer. Somewhere in the drafting portion of the deal the number changed, possibly fees added, commissions and that number was never communicated to or approved by the NIL contributor. So the way I interpret that is the Rashada's and those drafting the deal changed it and never verified it with the contributor. Shame, shame. Upon getting the contract back the contributor was not going to pay that amount other than what was agreed to. That podcast gives pretty good sources and names those involved.

The PC host along with many others think like we do. The price was too high, not worth it, and UF dodged a drama bullet. It sucks losing a highly ranked recruit to our class, but we didn't need that problem. Also they said all indications point to that Napier had nothing to do with it nor could do anything about due to the current way the laws are set up.

@klgator
To answer about Rojas..... This contract issue has been thought to have been an issue for a while. Why did it take Rashada so long to send in his NLI? Why did Rojas step down. I pretty sure (my opinion) this is why he stepped down. Also listened to today's PC episode and they had the new DIR of NIL Ben Chase. He's the dude that took the tour of College Football in the minivan. He has his stuff together and has been in NIL since nearly the inception and set up many deals for P5 schools. Although he did not comment on the details, he talked about what he is going to do to improve NIL at UF. Now if we can get someone that aggressive in the Collective. Check out that PC it really does detail alot.

 

[wrpgator]

No one has brought this up, and I am curious. Eddie Rojas, founder of the Gator Collective, resigned just before Christmas. Could there be any correlation between that and this NIL debacle?

Yes, on pg 24 this thread, but of course no body is spilling the beans on a definitive connection between Rojas' resignation from the collective and the Rashada cluster fuchs. There are dots that seem connect though.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

It seems to me that Rashada’s entire argument would be that he’s decided not to enroll because we’ve decided not to pay him, which is still technically against the rules. I do agree that we have a lot more freedom to speak than his camp does because we’re not the ones breaking contract(NLI).

How is it technically against the rules for the Gator Collective, or the other Gator NIL organization to pay him?

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

Isn't it still true that we do not know which entity caused the issue that ultimately resulted in Rashada and UF to part ways? We would like to believe fault is on Rashada's side, but we have no real knowledge. Our NIL could have made offers that were not honored. I read we have to pay miami's NIL something? WTH! And even though we might have some leverage because of the LOI, using that could backfire on us. Maybe his side has been "corrupt" in their dealings with UF. But it really doesn't stand to reason that we offered a significant NIL agreement but his camp believes that instead of playing for a high profile school like UF, Colorado and some extra NIL promises are better for him, long term. I have a hard time believing most or all fault lies with Rashada, although I wish if that's the case, that it comes out eventually.

You’re correct that we technically don’t know which side the fault actually falls on. There are stories out there blaming both sides. My comment was predicated on believing that Rashada tried to hold us up for more money because that seems to me to be more believable than us having offered him a $13 million NIL deal. If we did offer that, reneged on it and can’t speak the truth because of this, I’ll admit I was wrong…and then scream holy hell that we need to fire/disown the dipshyt on our side that agreed to pay $13m to a high school kid who isn’t worth that kind of money.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

It's just that, between the lines, something happened. Rashada and his handlers would not want to come out of this appearing to be untrustworthy. If we made a mistake where we offered something(our NIL), then could not or decided not to deliver, his side might have standing to get something in return for going away but not discussing the details or releasing statements about what actually happened. Obviously everyone wants to know. We might not want him to discuss it or release any statements or opinions.

Or it could be true that he tried to hold us up for more money and that’s why he’s not talking. Obviously we don’t know for certain at this time, but that’s not to say we’ll never know. I think it’s premature to conclude we already payed him hush money, though.

Furthermore, if Rashada wanted to come out of this not appearing untrustworthy, it seems to me he would have publicly stated that the UF Collective reneged, if that is what happened. Everyone would be sympathetic to him as the victim in that case. The fact that his side didn’t publicly say that leads me to believe that UF did not renege.

 

[williston_gator]

@Deadspin: Jaden Rashada was sold a bill of goods, and Florida paid for it Jaden Rashada was sold a false bill of goods, and Florida suffered for it

 

[Altitude Gator]

Seems a lot of sports "journalist" out there is buying into this $13 million "offer" with little or no scepticism as to how absurd it is on its face. We live in stupid times.

 

[deuce]

@Deadspin: Jaden Rashada was sold a bill of goods, and Florida paid for it Jaden Rashada was sold a false bill of goods, and Florida suffered for it

I don't believe this garbage.....

 

[soflagator]

How is it technically against the rules for the Gator Collective, or the other Gator NIL organization to pay him?

It’s my understanding that there still cannot be true pay for play arrangements. I could be completely wrong here, but I think it’s still against the rules to either commit/sign with a school based on funds promised, or for the school to not give them whatever was promised if they don’t sign. Ironically, it was one of the funny parts regarding Rashada’s flip from miami. He was still signed as a client of Life Wallet according to what I read and so was still being compensated(though I’m sure much less than had he played there). Again, I could be incorrect. But I thought there had to be a distinction between NIL arrangements agreed upon, and actually being paid upfront for signing.

 

[Silverback Gator]

View attachment 53668

Our NIL Director: “It’s was just a text, not a binding agreement”

Our Lawyers: “Guess again Bub”.