Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough has new doggone good NIL deal

It was only a matter of time before NIL went to the dogs.

But that’s a good thing in this case.

Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough and his one-year-old golden retriever Murphy are promoting Wagbnb, a Lubbock, Texas, boarding and doggy daycare, through a new NIL deal. In return for the promotion, Shough gets to bring Murphy to Wagbnb for boarding or doggy daycare whenever needed for free.

The owner of Wagbnb, Stephen Quisenberry, told KCBD 11 that he reached out to Shough hoping to reach an NIL deal. Shough, and most importantly Murphy, gave their (paw) stamp of approval for the partnership.

“We contacted Tyler about that to see if we could actually use Murphy’s name, image and likeness for our own marketing,” Quisenberry told KCBD. “Wagbnb has 55 employees, most of them which are college students. We’re very passionate about Tech and pets and thought it was a great opportunity to include Murphy in an NIL deal.

Murphy is a huge part of Shough’s life. Murphy has been featured heavily to Shough’s 19,000-plus followers on Instagram ever since she was brought home a year ago. Now Murphy is the star of a social media campaign for Wagbnb.

“(Tyler) brings Murphy when he goes out of town for football games, and she comes to daycare to play with other dogs,” Quisenberry told KCBD. “He just thought it was a great opportunity for both of them. She’s actually pretty mischievous. She goes around and steals all of our run cards that are on the kennels in daycare.”

While most NIL deals generate income for student-athletes, Murphy is getting “all the free treats she wants” as part of the agreement.

Tyler Shough has strong NIL brand

Tyler Shough returned to Texas Tech for the 2023 season as a super senior. In 2022, he appeared in seven games with five starts and all of them were Red Raider victories. However, he did miss six games because of a shoulder injury.

Unfortunately for Shough, he was injured again two weeks ago against West Virginia. Shough went down after a pass attempt on third down and was seen with a temporary cast on his left leg as he was taken back to the locker room. Before the injury, Shough had thrown for 746 yards and seven touchdowns on the season. He also racked up 149 yards rushing and two scores on the ground.

According to multiple reports, Shough has a broken left fibula and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season.

Shough transferred to Texas Tech after starting for Oregon during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season when the Ducks won the Pac-12 championship game. He broke his collarbone in his fourth game with the Red Raiders in 2021, then reinjured that shoulder in his last year’s opener and missed six more games.

Nonetheless, Shough is wildly popular for his grit with Red Raider fans. And that’s a big reason why he’s been able to maximize off NIL opportunities. Shough’s executed numerous deals, including with major brand Raising Cane’s. Plus, he turned heads last year when he used an NIL agreement with Thacker Jewelry to propose to his girlfriend, former Oregon women’s soccer player Jordan Wormdahl. Additionally, he’s one of the best-dressed players in college football thanks to his NIL deal with Life+STYLE by Laura.