Take it easy on the kid

[sjt18]

Long time lurker. I get the frustration, but let's rise above. Nico came from LA to Knoxville, and let's face it, for $. We all celebrated, but maybe like now, it was a family decision, not his. Most all off us fell in love with UT, exploring Gatlinburg, the history of Cade's cove or cat fishing with roommates with a case if ****** beer at bull run. He simply may not have. Money aside, the kid deserves to be at a place that touches his heart like Knoxville did mine. (I'm from MN)

May not be popular, but despite $, a certain place may not bring happiness to everyone.

He behaved like a mercenary. That's fine but there's a cost. Part of that cost... is people NOT taking it easy on you.

If he had earned more then I don't think UT would have balked and fans would be on his side. He was a second year player and frankly pretty mediocre in his play. LaNorris Sellers who went to USCe with not nearly the fanfare was a better player in almost every respect... playing on a less talented offense.


He was going to get paid by someone out of HS. UT made him a good offer. He claimed to love it at UT. Best of both worlds, right? Or maybe he was just saying words like his father did just hours before it was confirmed that Nico was indeed holding out for more money? If someone is committed and "happy" then they won't be so focused on the money. If they aren't then plays like his reveal to everyone that you aren't happy.

By all means Nico. Go be "happy".


I'm honestly not bitter or too upset about it. He was getting $2 million plus while not earning it. There's no guarantee he was going to earn it this fall or the next. There is EVERY likelihood that if he had finally performed at that level... he'd be in the next draft.

 

[landscapingvol]

Long time lurker. I get the frustration, but let's rise above. Nico came from LA to Knoxville, and let's face it, for $. We all celebrated, but maybe like now, it was a family decision, not his. Most all off us fell in love with UT, exploring Gatlinburg, the history of Cade's cove or cat fishing with roommates with a case if ****** beer at bull run. He simply may not have. Money aside, the kid deserves to be at a place that touches his heart like Knoxville did mine. (I'm from MN)

May not be popular, but despite $, a certain place may not bring happiness to everyone.

I have no ill will towards him in the least but he isn't a "kid". He is an adult who decided to ask for more money and it bit him in the butt. Hopefully, this will be a learning situation for him moving forward. But let's be honest, he was making more money in one year than a lot of people do in 25 years and he put himself above the team at a difficult time in the year. I don't blame him for wanting more money and if UT refused, he could have walked away right after the season not at the end of Spring practice. There was a much better way to handle this

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

 

[volfeeva]

Dont have a problem with him wanting more money. I have a problem how he went about it. Miss me with this "kid" ****, he's a big boy.

Why are folks still referring to him as a " kid" when he's a father himself if I'm not mistaken. Maybe he needed the extra millions for diapers and baby formula ?

 

[fossilfiction]

College atheletes are going to find out professional atheletes have known for a long time. Your daddy is not an agent, manager, coach, investor, banker, or advisor.

 

[CPVOL]

Long time lurker. I get the frustration, but let's rise above. Nico came from LA to Knoxville, and let's face it, for $. We all celebrated, but maybe like now, it was a family decision, not his. Most all off us fell in love with UT, exploring Gatlinburg, the history of Cade's cove or cat fishing with roommates with a case if ****** beer at bull run. He simply may not have. Money aside, the kid deserves to be at a place that touches his heart like Knoxville did mine. (I'm from MN)

May not be popular, but despite $, a certain place may not bring happiness to everyone.

Sometimes I really do sit and ask if 1+1=2 still.

 

[HalfullVol]

Time for Nico to learn some adulting lessons.

He’s gonna have to take this one on the chin and see if he can get back up.

 

[GulfCoasterVol]

Who is Nico Iamaleava ??

 

[deezvols]

Nico who?

 

[volsofsteele]

Sometimes I really do sit and ask if 1+1=2 still.

Does Polynesian, from LA, #1 QB = Knoxville Tennessee? So yes, you should sit and ask that.

 

[temptn]

No, and let's quit calling these millionaires kids.

 

[Tnphil]

Arch Manning got paid to sit too. Texas idiots?

Has Arch Manning pulled the $hit that Nico has? Manning is still at Texas and will be and Nico is bye-O...Nice apples and oranges comparison.

 

[Tnphil]

He played more snaps than Arch Manning his true freshman year. Nil deals are just like that. QBs get paid to sit and learn the system. Plenty of other places are the same, too numerous to name all of them.

Get back with me when Manning pulls the same $hit that Nico has. Texas also had a very good starting QB. We had Milton.

Plus....Manning is still at Texas.....Nico was git shirted.

 

[DaddyChad]

Get back with me when Manning pulls the same $hit that Nico has. Texas also had a very good starting QB. We had Milton.

Plus....Manning is still at Texas.....Nico was git shirted.

I wasn’t taking up for Nico. Damn

 

[Mccage]

He said F—- you to teamMa, Coaches, fans…..my reaction…. F~~~~ him!

 

[ddubb76]

Long time lurker. I get the frustration, but let's rise above. Nico came from LA to Knoxville, and let's face it, for $. We all celebrated, but maybe like now, it was a family decision, not his. Most all off us fell in love with UT, exploring Gatlinburg, the history of Cade's cove or cat fishing with roommates with a case if ****** beer at bull run. He simply may not have. Money aside, the kid deserves to be at a place that touches his heart like Knoxville did mine. (I'm from MN)

May not be popular, but despite $, a certain place may not bring happiness to everyone.

No more “kids” talk. They get paid so they no longer get that excuse.

 

[volanatic]

Dont have a problem with him wanting more money. I have a problem how he went about it. Miss me with this "kid" ****, he's a big boy.

100%

We’ve got to stop calling them kids. Legally they aren’t. I know your mind is still developing and you’re young blah blah blah, but if you wanna play a grown man’s game (and I’m not talking about football) then you have to understand you’ll face criticism when you make selfish decisions. Especially putting yourself before your team. And no matter how you hash this up, that’s exactly what he did. It was Nico first, team second. That’s all unrestricted NIL does. It’s the conclusion that many of these players will arrive at, especially the superstars and highly recruited types. We’ve already had an DB so the same. And I’m just going to go ahead and say if you were in favor of this unrestricted NIL, then you have nothing to complain about. You have no merit. You’re part of the problem. College football is dead.

 

[wrangler]

Long time lurker. I get the frustration, but let's rise above. Nico came from LA to Knoxville, and let's face it, for $. We all celebrated, but maybe like now, it was a family decision, not his. Most all off us fell in love with UT, exploring Gatlinburg, the history of Cade's cove or cat fishing with roommates with a case if ****** beer at bull run. He simply may not have. Money aside, the kid deserves to be at a place that touches his heart like Knoxville did mine. (I'm from MN)

May not be popular, but despite $, a certain place may not bring happiness to everyone.

It wasn't "a family decision". Nico made his own decision, albeit perhaps under family pressure. He's a man, and "I was just following orders" just won't wash.

 

[OleRockyTopTennessee]

Sorry folks. I said it from day one. I wasn’t a Nico fan when he signed and I’m really not a fan now. He wasn’t coming to Tennessee without an NIL deal. He went to the highest bidder then, and it was going to be the highest bidder from here on out. He showed up in pajamas to play football at Tennessee, and that was childish and conceited, and I hope he ends up in pajamas when it’s all said and done. I don’t want to hear that it was his dad or his agents fault, yes they had something to do with it, but when he signed that contract back in high school, he became the ultimate decision maker. I wish him all the best at playing badminton on the beach in California. That’s all he and his family deserves.

 

[brockytop]

Maybe negotiations were out of his control, but not showing up for practice is on the player regardless what he was told by others.

 

[foolonthehill]

Long time lurker. I get the frustration, but let's rise above. Nico came from LA to Knoxville, and let's face it, for $. We all celebrated, but maybe like now, it was a family decision, not his. Most all off us fell in love with UT, exploring Gatlinburg, the history of Cade's cove or cat fishing with roommates with a case if ****** beer at bull run. He simply may not have. Money aside, the kid deserves to be at a place that touches his heart like Knoxville did mine. (I'm from MN)

May not be popular, but despite $, a certain place may not bring happiness to everyone.

That is absolutely not what happened here. The dad overplayed his hand.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

I get the sentiment but I also think fans who are upset have every right to be given what the program has been through. Since around 2009, every single time we experience something positive for the program it is almost always followed by a gut punch. He clearly only came for the money and that’s completely fine but to leave at the end of spring ball, quit on the team, AND ghost the staff? THAT is what has people frustrated.

 

[Remy]

Dont have a problem with him wanting more money. I have a problem how he went about it. Miss me with this "kid" ****, he's a big boy.

This theme about him being young which he was should somehow be used to look aside, excuse, or limit the damage his actions in this matter caused falls on my deaf ears.

Why?

Because we have many young men and women, some younger than Nico manning a post in hostile territory all by themselves terrified but doing their jobs in the US military tonight. Check out the Vietnam Wall sometime and look at the ages of some of those who gave their lives for this country. I turned 19 years of age abroad in defense of the good ol' USA as well. So this give a youngster a break does not work well for me. I hope he learns from this and improves his character which has been heavily damaged. But he was in a grown man's position and many treated him that way but apparently he was not yet there. Some never get there, hope he does for his own good.

 

[OrangeTsar]

So, what happens if David Sanders threatens to bolt for Columbus in December without an NIL raise? Do we stand firm or cave? This is a likely scenario from what I've read.

It largely depends on how he plays this season. If he earns it, pay the man. Otherwise let him walk. We can use the money elsewhere

 

[NCFisher]

What pisses me off about the situation is...he sat on his ass his whole freshman year and got paid good money for it. This means we've got some folks within the program that's not real sharp. The Nico clan made out on that deal.

Pssst...it didn't cost the program a penny for him to sit on his ass.
The program doesn't pay players.

Know how things work before proposing to be smarter than folks within the program.