KD Nixon opens up on student-athletes profiting off of their likeness

BOULDER — Darrin Chiaverini waited four years for his gold number.

During his senior season at the University of Colorado, the wide receiver bought a copy of NCAA Gamebreaker 99, slid the disk into his PlayStation, started his first game with the Buffs and saw a little golden “#6” under the wide receiver made in his likeness.

“If you were a college football player and you had the gold number, that meant you were a good player,” Chiaverini, who is currently Colorado’s assistant head coach and wide receivers coach, said Tuesday.

The yearly tradition of college football players buying the game on release day to check out their ratings began with the EA Sports’ Bill Walsh College Football series in 1993. The game wasn’t officially licensed by most schools, so instead of the names of colleges, it used the cities they reside in.

Instead of the names of players, it just put the right numbers in the right positions.

Over the years, various developers made college football video games — 2K Studios took a crack in the early ’00s, for example — but the longest-lasting and most well-known series was the EA Sports series.

As the series progressed, schools licensed it to use their names and logos. EA built replica stadiums and jerseys. It was as close as possible to real-life college football.

Except EA never received the license to use player names.

The “likenesses” EA used for the players became more and more obvious. EA threw in the races, heights and weights of players into the games. It rated players by speed, throwing accuracy, stamina and 30-something other metrics that mimicked the real-life player. It included the correct hairstyle.

For example, a current version of the game would make a perfect replica of Laviska Shenault all the way down to his teeth, but would name him “WR #2” instead of “Laviska Shenault.”

Plus, players could edit the names of players and sub in “Laviska Shenault” for “WR #2.” Easier yet, they could download a roster from somebody who did the work for them for free.

A bunch of legal things happened and essentially EA was told it couldn’t just steal somebody’s likeness without their consent. Some players wanted money for their consent but the NCAA doesn’t allow student-athlete’s to receive payment for their name, image or likeness (NIL) for short.

So the game was shuttered in 2013 and the tradition of student-athletes checking their rating on release day died with it.

But a revival may be on the way.

An NCAA committee unanimously voted on Tuesday to change the NIL policy and allow players to profit on their likeness, beginning in January 2021. The details are complex and yet to be ironed out but student-athletes will likely be allowed to make endorsement deals, sell autographs and take jobs coaching youth sports, just like any other student.

The path for a video game, in theory, has been paved.

“It is a big deal,” Chiaverini said. “We should have that game. I’m glad the NCAA is doing something like that with likeness and image… It’s good for our sport.”

Fans aren’t the only ones clamoring for comeback of virtual college football.

Wide receiver K.D. Nixon grew up playing the NCAA Football series. He grew up in DeSoto, Texas but the local college football teams didn’t spark his interest. Instead, he was drawn to Terrelle Pryor’s Ohio State teams and, primarily, the Oregon Ducks.

“They had the best colors and you always want to swag out in the game,” Nixon said.

For Nixon, the video game was a motivator.

“Coming out the hood, you always want to go to the NCAA,” he said. “When they had the game, you tried to mimic it. You try to do everything they do in the game.”

Monday afternoon, shortly after news broke of the NCAA’s decision, Nixon’s phone went off. First, it was a stranger from Florida telling him about the new opportunity. Then others joined in.

“Everybody was tweeting me saying ‘You’re going to run away with this,'” Nixon said. “They know I love branding myself.”

The rule doesn’t come into effect until after Nixon graduates but that hasn’t quelled his excitement.

“I don’t want to jinx it,” Nixon said. “I don’t want to lie to you, that’s why I don’t even like to talk about it, because if we get too happy and it doesn’t work, then we’re going to look stupid.”

When he was younger, Nixon would’ve wanted to appear in the video game whether he was paid or not. He said his perspective shifted slightly when he saw what the college football lifestyle actually looks like.

“Y’all don’t understand what we go through,” Nixon said. “Y’all just see the goodness. Y’all don’t see the bad parts. I think they should’ve got paid and if they didn’t get paid, cut the game off. They’re putting their life on the line and you’re making money off of them.”

The scholarship Nixon and many other student-athletes receive is valuable, but it still leaves many student-athletes struggling to make ends meet. The cost of living at one university compared to another isn’t factored into the stipend permitted by the NCAA, so student-athletes living in a high-rent area like Boulder are afforded the same living expenses as a student-athlete living in a middle-of-nowhere college town.

Varsity athletes can’t have jobs, so making money is nearly out of the question. Plus, athletes can’t profit off of their likeness, so that rules out coaching youth teams on the weekend for money or profiting off of YouTube channels.

In 2014, Georgia running back Todd Gurley took $3,000 to sign Bulldogs paraphernalia. When the NCAA found out, it suspended the star running back for four games. Additionally, he had to donate a portion of that money to charity and complete 40 hours of community service.

The new NIL rule should stop this from happening, though the details are still to be determined.

While there are tangible benefits that should be seen in the lives of some student-athletes, the change most noticeable to the average college football fan will likely be the return of virtual college football.

No plans have been announced for the game to return yet, which is too bad since the Buffs’ offense may have been one of the best in the game. Nixon has spent some time thinking about how he’d play with it.

“I’m at quarterback. I’m throwing that thing,” Nixon said. “(Quarterback Steven) Montez is gonna catch a fade, so I’m gonna throw him that fade sometime. Sometimes I’m going to put myself in the slot, Viska (Shenault) outside on the same side, put T.B. (Tony Brown) in the slot, put Vontae (Shenault) on the outside. I’m going to get everybody the ball. I’m going to share. Why? Because that’s the game. You know your brothers can catch, so you gonna try everything.”

Why isn’t he just ranking up the yards for himself?

“That’s selfish. I ain’t a selfish dude. I mean, if I’m doing a My Player, like Dynasty, then you’ve got to. Other than that, I’m gonna share that thing.”

The golden numbers under the best players in the game disappeared sometime in the past couple of decades, but they were replaced. That meant Nixon grew up with a slightly different dream than his coach.

“When you get the star under the player, that’s when you know,” Nixon said. “It just sparks you up a little bit.

Hopefully, Nixon will get the chance to see a star under his likeness before he leaves Boulder.