Dan Orlovsky blasts NCAA over Matthew Sluka decision: 'This is hopefully a wake-up call'
UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka made the surprise decision to walk away from the team, despite its unbeaten record, thanks to an NIL dispute. It was a moment, for many, that has created some uneasiness.
One of those people with concerns is ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, who blasted the NCAA over Sluka’s decision during an appearance on Get Up, explaining that it should be a wake-up call.
“Good for the kid and NCAA wake up,” Dan Orlovsky said. “This is hopefully a wake-up call. There’s a verse in the Bible. It’s verse Timothy 6:10 that says ‘For the love of money is the root of all evil.’ This is what happens when you as an NCAA just free reign this.”
The dispute between Sluka and UNLV comes down to Sluka and his family saying that they were verbally promised $100,000 in an NIL package to transfer there, which hasn’t been delivered. The school, for its part, disputes that claim.
“For the context of this, and I 100 percent agree with the young man and his decision, he played football at Holy Cross. He’s playing football because he loves football. Transfers and now, fundamentally, he quits on his team because of money,” Orlovsky said. “That’s where college football is right now. NCAA are you happy with what you’ve built? Are you happy with what you’ve overseen? There’s a young man who’s a quarterback who played at Holy Cross who is quitting on his team as they’re 3-0 because of money. That’s ridiculous.”
Orlovsky wasn’t the only one on the panel for Get Up who felt that way about the situation. Another former NFL player, Jason McCourty, shared that he feels this comes down to misrepresentation. He also added that he feels it’s incorrect to even say Sluka quit on UNLV.
“We’re asking the 20-year-old, 21-year-old young men to make decisions that older people are not making. The ones that are trying to say you’re responsible with this kid’s future to make sure it goes as planned. For this situation, Matthew, you’re looking at a situation where to our point, it’s not about the legal issues. They told you to come here and play and they were going to pay you this amount of money. When it doesn’t happen, we’re seeing the same thing in the NFL. When training camp because they are not getting the compensation they believe they deserve,” McCourty said.
“This is far worse because not only do you deserve it, they told you that they are going to give it to you and then decided not to. So, I can’t even say he quit on his team. The university, they quit on him by not coming through with the things they promised him.”
Now, Matthew Sluka will redshirt for the rest of the season and look to transfer again, hoping to find a more stable landing spot this time.