It’s not easy to turn down the enticing NIL offers that are allegedly floating around for college students.
Colorado State coach Jay Norvell said Wednesday that quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and wide receiver Torrey Horton visited him and told him they had received NIL offers, some of which were outrageous.
“It’s really important to have open communication with your players. Tory just tells me, ‘Hey, this guy called me last night and heard this and offered me,’ and I just laugh. I’m so glad we had Tory Horton because he’s a great kid. A lot of kids don’t do that,” Norvell told On3.
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Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi of the Colorado State Rams runs out of the pocket during a game against the Utah State Aggies at Maverick Stadium on Oct. 7, 2023 in Logan, Utah. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
“The same with Brayden. Brayden was getting a similar offer. If there’s enough evidence, you can prove it. But conclusive evidence is conclusive evidence. He said a guy from Kansas State called him and offered him $600,000 because they were going to lose their quarterback if he went into the portal.”
Norvell understands this is the way college football works today, so he doesn’t blame Kansas State for the offer.
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Torii Horton of the Colorado State Rams goes for the ball over Will Johnson of the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 3, 2022, in Ann Arbor. (Nick Antaya/Getty Images)
“I’m not bashing Kansas State, I’m just saying what the kid told me. If they don’t want their name on it, they should probably control their guys. But that’s how it goes in college football and that’s the way it is.”
Kansas State University did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
As for why he decided to stay, Fowler-Nicolosi said it wasn’t just about money at the moment.
“That’s the way I was raised. I didn’t come here to make money. I came here to win games and play for the Rams,” the quarterback said. CBS Colorado“We come here and play, do our job, do what we need to do, win championships, make the playoffs and shock the world, and I think the money will come eventually.”
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Colorado State Rams player Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi warms up before a game against the Utah State Aggies on Oct. 7, 2023 in Logan, Utah. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
“There are a lot of opportunities out there, but at the end of the day, I’m a 20-year-old with higher goals in life than just making money at university. If I can do that, I’ll be very happy and I’ll get my life together for a long time, but if I can do my job here and do what we need to do and perform as expected, I think I’ve got some people on the team who will look after me long after I graduate from university.”
For Horton, it was his familiarity with the system and his good relationship with the coaches that kept him at Colorado.
“It’s nice to earn some money with the new NIL system in college, but that’s not my end goal. My end goal is not to be NIL in college, it’s the next level, the coaching here and the style of play that suits us. There’s no reason for me to go to another college to start all over again, to try a different system that I’m not familiar with. I know what the system is like here, I know what the coaching staff is like here and their end goal is for us to become better people, not just football players.”
“It means a lot when we come out of college knowing we have a coaching staff that has what they want for us, not just passion for the game but passion for the mind and life.”
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Colorado State Rams wide receiver Torrey Horton carries the ball at Folsom Field on Sept. 17, 2023 in Boulder, Colorado. (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
Last season, the Rams went 5-7. Fowler-Nicolosi threw for 3,460 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Horton had 96 catches for 1,136 yards and eight touchdowns last season, averaging 94.7 yards per game. As a wide receiver, Horton led the Mountain West with an average of eight receptions per game.
Colorado State will open its season against the University of Texas Longhorns on August 31 at 1:30 pm Mountain Time.
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