Will Anderson and the players will save college football

NIL. Name, Image and Likeness. Now it's legal, and it is going to ruin college football. Paying the players above board will inevitably, dramatically shift their focus from the playbook to the checkbook. That's what you say. That's what I hear.

And then I hear Alabama outside linebacker Will Anderson, a delightful personality for such a destructive force, say this on the subject: "I'm doing NIL to take the stress off my family. I don't want them worrying about how to get to my games."

Hmmm. Never thought of it that way. Sounds thoroughly thoughtful and sensible, doesn't it? Especially when you consider what it must cost parents and other relatives to travel for 12-15 weekends every fall. ...

NIL, transfers, collectives, oh, my. You say the demise of the sport we love is nigh. I say listen to Anderson, Bryce Young, Will Levis and so many others and learn the truth: Outside the lines, the players are smarter than ever. Between the lines, they still make memories that are impossible to resist.

Read the rest of Kevin's contrarian optimism. Only in The Lede.

Alabama's Will Anderson smiles his way through SEC Media Days 2022 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.