Invest in U with Grant Frerking, Episode 7: Josh Pate Speaks on How NIL Will Impact the Future of College Football

You will be hard-pressed to find a more popular icon across college football social media right now than Josh Pate. Combining his immense passion for the game along with the talent he has, Pate has created a cult-like following across his platforms. This past week, I had the honor of sitting down with him to talk about what led to his rapid success, recapped what was one of the better college football seasons we have had in recent memory, and talked about the future of the sport and the impact NIL has had and will have going forward.

In covering the sport that he loves so much, Pate has a unique outlook on what he does. Service to others is a trait that he was raised on and believes is important in what he does in life and his career. Being real is something that people will notice very quickly. In the words of Josh Pate, “show people who you truly are-they will see it and believe it.” He went on to talk about his love for the sport and the weight that carries in having true, long-term success in sports media.

The future of college football is bright and Pate believes that NIL will play a big role in that. We share the same energy regarding the positivity NIL has brought over the course of the last five months. Many claims regarding name, image, and likeness being the downfall of college athletics are simply lacking merit. Josh Pate challenges people who disagree with recent NIL legislation to take a look at this past college football season, think about why they love the sport so much, and try to find a single way it was impacted or taken away because of NIL. He also challenges people to look closer and find a good player who turned in a negative manner because of him/her capitalizing o their name, image, and likeness. Both of us strongly agree that you will not be able to find one. Sure there are always a few bad apples in anything, but I can tell you that as a student-athlete, there was not one good teammate of mine this past year that was turned into a bad teammate because of NIL. If there were a few bad ones, they had been that way long before NIL and weeded themselves out anyway.

I asked Pate his ideal NIL deal. Expectedly, he had a unique and fun deal already in mind. Partner with a national rail transportation company and travel the country in a boxcar throughout the summer living off the grid. I assured Pate he would be the first and only person with that deal.  

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