Why Troy Aikman didn’t get thanked by that UCLA football player

Troy Aikman said he was “done with NIL” after writing a check to the account UCLA a football player who never thanked him and left for another school after the season.

There was a reason for the lack of gratitude, according to one person familiar with the Bruins' football name, image and likeness at the time and not authorized to publicly discuss donor information.

The player in question did not know who financed his zero deal, only that the money came from the Men of Westwood team. It was standard practice for players not to know which donors or alumni contributed zero funds that were distributed to the team.

Aikman, who did not name the player in his comments, received thanks from Men of Westwood management, coach Chip Kelly And sporting director Martin JarmondThis was reported by a person familiar with the situation.

Aikman, a former UCLA defensive end who led the Bruins to the 1989 Cotton Bowl victory before going on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys, expressed his frustration with the NIL on the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitch.

“I gave money to a kid, I won’t say who,” Aikman told Deitch. “I did it once at UCLA, never met the young man. He was there for a year and left a year later. I wrote out a good amount of money and he transferred to another school. I didn't even get so much as a thank you note. So, this is one of those deals where I'm done with NIL. I want UCLA to succeed, but I'm done with it.”

Aikman went on to say that he believes players should be able to move between schools as coaching changes occur, but otherwise they will have to remain with the program that pays them.

“There needs to be some leadership at the top to sort of bring order to all of this,” Aikman said. “Starting with the players who accept the money. There needs to be some accountability and responsibility on their behalf to stick with the program.”