The NIL era has been a heavily-discussed topic in college football circles for years now and some former players who are on coaching staffs are even talking about what routes they would've taken.
It has to feel good to watch players earn money for their name, image, and likeness now after years of battling for some type of compensation. Well, it has to be bittersweet for a lot of these former players because they're now wondering just what life could've been if they had gotten the bag when they were playing.
One former player decided to come out and be brutally honest about what he would've done if he were playing in the NIL era.
Former Clemson defensive back star DeAndre McDaniel played for the Tigers from 2007-2010 and he finished his career with 296 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 15 interceptions, 20 pass breakups, and three forced fumbles in 53 career games which included 35 starts. He was a star who chose Clemson over childhood dream school Florida State as well as Florida while Urban Meyer was dominating.
The former All-ACC and All-American selection was a four-star recruit and likely would have gotten a bag if he were playing at the college level nowadays.
And he agreed that he would've chased it.
According to The Clemson Insider, McDaniel said that he would've chased the bag which likely would have meant that he wouldn't have ended up at Clemson, given his circumstances at the time.
Fortunately for Clemson fans, he didn't get that opportunity to chase the bag elsewhere because he had a special career with the Tigers and sparked one of the greatest runs in school history with his play in the early years of Dabo Swinney.
it makes you wonder what other players could've wound up elsewhere if the NIL era started earlier.