The Hall of Fame half of the Pony Express returned to the SMU campus Tuesday to hail the benefits of athletes’ Name, Image and Likeness deals. Eric Dickerson, the still-fit former power back, saved a few stiff arms for his friends at the NCAA, as well.
Speaking inside the field house at the SMU football facility, Dickerson appeared at an event hosted by Influxer, a company launched to help student athletes connect with companies looking for marketing or advertising pitchmen. These NIL deals can prove lucrative, with some big-name college football players banking millions of dollars.
Asked at the outset if he ever imagined he’d be talking about college football players making legit money from advertisers or boosters, Dickerson chuckled.
“That’s a great question,” he said, before deadpanning: “No.”
Dickerson (1979-1982) is arguably SMU’s most iconic player of all time, forming the “Pony Express” backfield with fellow runner Craig James.
He is also familiar with the football program’s darkest hours: The 1987 NCAA-imposed “death penalty,” which disbanded the program and prompted a two-year hiatus from competition. The severe punishment, the NCAA decided, was needed after years of probation stretching into the 1970s over inappropriate gifts and benefits for football players.
Many of those benefits are now legal. In 2021, the NCAA changed rules and followed some state laws to allow athletes to make money on their name, image or likeness.
For Dickerson, the wait was too long.
“I always thought athletes should be paid,” he said.
Dickerson noted that no endorsement deal would change the effort or commitment of an athlete on gameday, dismissing an argument by NIL foes who say players will chase the money and not team goals.
“Athletes are going to play hard, no matter what,” he said.
Dickerson had a few choice words for the NCAA and its administrators, which he deemed useless in this era of modern college football.
“I hate them,” he said of the NCAA. He compared NCAA officials’ impact on modern college football to the unseemly work of “pimps.”
“They, to me, are just crooks,” he said.
Dickerson has a suggestion to remove the NCAA from college football: Have each conference, such as the ACC, SEC, Big 10, etc., police and regulate its members schools and games.
SMU has had a smashing debut season in the ACC. The one-loss Mustangs will take on Clemson this Saturday in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte, with eyes on a run in the upcoming College Football Playoff, the first year a 12-team tournament will be used to determine the national champion.
SMU defensive back Jonathan McGill, a team captain, said NIL deals can be used in a number of ways. He said they may sometimes involve deals over meals or clothing, which can have a positive impact on a college football player juggling the demands of academia with the pressure of ACC football.
“It makes the whole athlete experience a lot better,” McGill said.