Former Florida linebacker Mike Peterson played football because he loved the game.
The spoils of success would come later during a lengthy NFL career.
Long retired and in his first season on the Gators’ coaching staff, Peterson, 45, worries about the priorities of current players in the age of name, imagine and likeness legislation.
“In a way, I’m kind of 50-50 on it right now,” he said following Tuesday’s practice. “I’m all for the players getting paid. I don’t want it to affect the game. That’s the thing that I fear now — that it may affect the game.”
NIL laws allow some players to earn money even before playing a down of college football. Guardrails to prevent schools from using NIL as a recruiting tool have gone off the rails and done little to prevent players from signing based on earning potential. More than 20 states, including Florida, have legislation in place yet none has the same guidelines.
Now a decade removed from a 14-year NFL career ending in 2012, Peterson suspects dollar signs will play too heavily into too many college decisions.
“Guys choosing schools for the wrong reason. Guys forgetting why they play the game,” he said. “You take me, you take a lot of the older guys, you get into this game because you love it, you grew up playing, played it as a kid. Of course one day you want to do it for a living, and you should get paid for it.
“But I don’t I don’t want the money to get in the way of the love of the game.”
Peterson’s love for the game and the Gators served the Gainesville native well.
Peterson’s views on NIL might make him sound like a dinosaur to some, yet his passion led to incredible production and a spot in the Gators Hall of Fame.
He was a sophomore on the 1996 national title team and an All-American as a senior in 1998 before going onto a highly productive career in professional football. Playing for Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Atlanta, Peterson compiled 1,220 tackles.
Peterson also acknowledges the economic reality facing college athletes and NIL’s potential to ease the burden. He welcomes uniform rules and a better game plan.
“Moving forward it needs to be some type of system set up for them to get paid,” Peterson said. “This just means just talking out loud, I don’t know if it’s something set up something once they get their degree, you go four years in school or something, you can put it in a trust fund or something. I don’t know.”
Peterson, who coached linebackers at South Carolina from 2016-21, is certain the topic will come up on the recruiting trail. He has developed a sense for a player’s and family’s level of focus on NIL.
“You got to talk about it, it’s here, it’s in front of us,” Peterson said. “When you’re having those talks with mom and dad and the kid, you got to put that in your intro your speech. Sometimes when you talk about NIL, they kind of sit up a little bit more.
“Other ones are, coach, I just want to play ball and whatever comes with it comes with it. So you kind of know, and the ones that do you have to spend a little more time on that discussion.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Edgar Thompson at [email protected] oraafollow him on Twitter at @osgators.
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