Through five games of the 2014 Georgia Bulldogs season, All-SEC RB Todd Gurley was terrorizing opposing defenses, both out of the Bulldog backfield and on special teams accounting for 920 all-purpose yards and 9 TDs, as the Bulldogs were 4-1 and averaging 45.0 points per game offensively.
Unfortunately for Gurley, his season would be interrupted on Oct 9, 2014 when reports surfaced that Gurley was paid to sign memorabilia including helmets during the offseason, and the NCAA suspended him for four games in the middle of the season, all but ending what could have been an award winning season for the future Top-10 draft pick.
Gurley would go on to make millions of dollars in the NFL and from endorsements, but back in 2014 if college football would have had the same rules it now has, with players being able to sign NIL deals that allow them to capitalize from the same type of activities Gurley was suspended for, his final season in Athens may have been history making.
“My boy Todd might have himself a Heisman Trophy” said former UGA RB Keith Marshall when he joined Sam & Greg on the Weekends to discuss, NIL and one of his latest ventures, "The Player’s Lounge”
“I’m glad that these kids are finally able to start leveraging what they are doing on and off the field” commented Marshall when reflecting that he and his teammates like Gurley were unable to take advantage of the types of deals NIL has given the current crop of college players.
After a superb freshman season in 2012, that saw the duo of Marshall and Gurley combine for 2,144 rushing yards and 25 TDs, they were nicknamed “Gurshall”, in reference to Bulldogs legend Hershel Walker.
Neither player was particularly fond of the nickname, but you have to wonder if a nice “Gurshall” NIL deal would have made the nickname a little easier to tolerate?
To hear the entire conversation on NIL, the Bulldogs 2021 National Championship and The Player’s Lounge between Sam, Greg, and Keith download the link above.