Penn State football standout safety Jaylen Reed inks new NIL deal

A major area of interest for the entire Penn State community has been the world of NIL — for many, Name, Image, and Likeness is a relatively new topic; however, according to James Franklin, NIL is a department that the Nittany Lions are still a few years behind in. Yesterday, Penn State football standout safety Jaylen Reed inked a new NIL deal ahead of the 2023 college football season, which is set to kick off against WVU in just a few short months.

Excited to partner with @LPChrysler to build my custom 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee! Check them out for all your vehicle needs. Thank you @LPChrysler for the opportunity to work with you and your team! pic.twitter.com/loVvPc6Fp9

— 1 (@JaylenReed20) May 9, 2023

Penn State football standout safety Jaylen Reed inks new NIL deal with car dealership

Yesterday, Jaylen Reed took to Twitter to announce his new NIL partnership with La Porte Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. For Penn State football, any NIL news like this – news that shows the Lions are heading in the right direction – is great news for the program. “Excited to partner with [La Port Chrysler] to build my custom 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee,” Reed said in his official announcement on Tuesday afternoon. “Check them out for all your vehicle needs. Thank you @LPChrysler for the opportunity to work with you and your team!”

NIL a major topic of interest in the Penn State community

From Micah Shrewsberry’s comments on Penn State’s NIL funding to James Franklin’s call for more infrastructure and assistance on that front, Name, Image, and Likeness has become a hot topic in the Penn State community. Here are some of James Franklin’s recent comments on NIL at Penn State:

“I don’t think it really should be a discussion — I don’t think it really can be a discussion — because, when you’re Penn State, and you’re in the Big Ten, the reality is that … you can’t pick and choose at what you’re going to compete in,” James Franklin said ahead of the Blue-White game on Saturday. “This discussion is [one] that is very similar to a discussion we had 10 years ago when I was talking about facilities and people were looking at me like I was crazy.

“The reality is that the people that were aggressive on the frontend with facilities, obviously they’re able to shift their focus to the new challenge. So, the reality is whether it’s facilities, whether it’s staff size, whether it’s alignment, whether it’s NIL, whether it’s [any] of these things, if you truly want to compete at the highest level, then you can’t say we’re going to be competitive in these three areas and not [in others].

“Where we are, as a top 10 program, those areas that you are behind in become glaring, obvious issues to people who really understand and study college football and college athletics.”

Following his comments about Penn State’s relationship with NIL, Penn State coach James Franklin also says that there is plenty of work to be done when it comes to the Nittany Lions’ NIL efforts and more.

“We still got a ton of work to do,” James Franklin said when asked about where the football program is with NIL right now. “We were two years behind everybody else. I think over the last year we have made significant progress, but if you give somebody a two-year start in a three-year model, it’s pretty obvious.”

Even though Penn State football is behind in the NIL game, the Nittany Lions are starting to make some progress.

“We have been working to try to solve it as much as we possibly can by going out and educating the fanbase and the donors about what we are truly competing against. As you guys know, I spend a ton of time studying ‘best practice.’ I think I’ve got a pretty good pulse and understanding of what is happening [by] talking to ADs, talking to other coaches, talking to [outside hires].”

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