JT Daniels inks exclusive NIL apparel deal

JT Daniels continues to be highly successful in the world of Name, Image and Likeness. The Georgia quarterback already has a deal with Zaxby’s and a trading-card agreement.

Now he is stepping into the world of apparel with his partnership with Rhoback. The online retailer based in Charlottesville, Virginia, sells performance sweatshirts, polos, T-shirts and quarter zips.

The company has debuted a Rhoback U program, with more than 1,000 college athletes taking part, including Notre Dame star Kyle Hamilton. But Daniels’ collaboration with Rhoback is reportedly the largest apparel contract among collegiate athletes.

“Rhoback’s gear has an energy about it that I cannot wait to share across Athens with my teammates, the fans, and the rest of the Dawgs community,” Daniels said. “I am excited to have Rhoback Activewear as my official apparel sponsor and to become a leading face of the Rhoback U college athlete program. Rhoback’s high-quality activewear combined with their trendsetting social media has constantly stood out to me.”

Through his partnership with Rhoback, Daniels will gift his Georgia teammates a Georgia-themed performance polo. The apparel will be available to the public at some point this season.

After ACL injury early in career, JT Daniels finds home in Georgia 

Daniels started his career at Southern California, where he threw for 2,672 yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman in 2018. He tore his ACL early in the 2019 season, ultimately transferring to Georgia after the season. 

After transferring to Georgia and finishing out rehab on his knee, Daniels started the Bulldogs’ final four games. In those four games, Daniels competed 67.2% of his passes for 1,231 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. Daniels threw for 392 yards in Georgia’s 24-21 Peach Bowl victory over Cincinnati, too.

Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken said last week that Daniels is responding well to being the starter entering the season.

“He is just very comfortable with the offense and his ability to change things at the line of scrimmage and be able to do things as a player that is controlled, which he likes to be involved in,” Monken said. “He just has a greater command, which is normal. I mean it is normal that he came in and had an injury and we were repping a lot of guys and he didn’t play till the end.”

Georgia is ranked fifth in the preseason AP top-25 poll, receiving three first-place votes.

Finding rhythm in preseason camp

Daniels has not been given any favors this fall camp. The Georgia quarterback is in his first preseason as the Bulldogs starting quarterback. But some of his top wideouts have missed chunks of camp, including tight end John FitzPatrick and wide receivers Arik Gilbert and Dom Blaylock. 

Even though Daniels hasn’t had his weapons around him, he has made the most of the preseason. Georgia opens the season on Sept. 4 in Charlotte in a top-five matchup with huge playoff ramifications against Clemson. 

“JT’s for the most part has had pretty good rhythm with his guys,” Kirby Smart said earlier this month. “You can make excuses all the time, but people are injured in football, so you go play with the guys that are out there. They got to throw all summer. All the guys were out there all summer.”