Fresno State's Jalen Cropper stars in Fresno First Bank commercials

In preparation for Fresno State wide receiver Jalen Cropper‘s appearances in commercials for Fresno First Bank as part of an NIL deal, Wraith Sports Group co-founder Josh Escovedo, who represents Cropper, relayed a message from the bank that Cropper should bring wide receiver gloves, a white dress shirt, a tie and some slacks for the video shoot. Both the agent and the athlete were taken aback, initially.

“I said, ‘Oh, OK. Yeah, sure. No problem,'” said Escovedo, who recalled the exchange during a Zoom call with On3.

Cropper asked Escovedo what he’d be doing in the commercials, where both a necktie and receiver gloves were required.

“I said,” Escovedo recalled, as he shrugged his shoulders for effect, “you’re gonna find out.”

Jalen Cropper stars in NIL commercials

The result was Cropper starring in two separate commercials for Fresno First Bank.

In one commercial, Cropper, donning his professional attire and white receiver gloves, plus a headset, stands in the bank’s parking lot. He makes a one-handed catch through his legs, then another behind his bank. The filming of that scene only took about 10 minutes.

“Think you can do this, Steve?” Cropper says at the start of the commercial, directed at Steve Miller, the president and CEO of Fresno First Bank. Miller has appeared in many of the bank’s commercials involving Fresno State athletes.

“Come on, that’s not going to cut it on Sundays,” Miller says after Cropper’s catches. “Put some heat on it, Elena!”

The camera pans to reveal Elena Estrada, a marketing specialist at Fresno First Bank and a Fresno State alum, as the one who was firing the footballs at Cropper. Estrada’s next throw drills Miller in the back of the head.

“Ow!” he yells.

It’s J5’s first day at @fresnofirstbank. He’s already showing us a few tricks up his sleeve. pic.twitter.com/uRGscSqyXO

— Fresno First Bank (@fresnofirstbank) August 16, 2022

Fresno First Bank Chief Revenue/Marketing Officer Matt Tymn said the video received roughly 2,000 views per hour at its peak.

“You look at basically our whole audience on Twitter, it’s really small,” Tymn told On3. “It’s actually under 500 [followers] but we can get 100,000 views on these commercials. Then we post it out on all the formats. Obviously, we’re a business bank… so we carry that across our brand and we put that out on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We do a little bit on TikTok.”

Commercial talks about staying local

In a second commercial, Miller says, “We love Jalen. Kid could’ve gone anywhere in the country. Stayed right here in the Valley. Ain’t that right, Crop?”

The bank and the wide receiver each shared a message about the importance of staying local.

As Miller was talking, Cropper, who was in the break room, suddenly appears in the hallway behind Miller, startling him.

“I knew J5 was quick, but dang!” Miller says.

Cropper then takes a call with a potential client and he says, “Here’s the deal. I stayed local so you should bank local.”

Dang, J5 is quick! He’s closing deals on his first day. @fresnofirstbank #communitybanking #nil pic.twitter.com/wY7qA8z4oC

— Fresno First Bank (@fresnofirstbank) August 17, 2022

“It was really an hour to an hour and a half of taking care of business,” Escovedo said of the filming. “That was the end product. I think they really did a good job of editing that thing. It’s like a 20-second, little clip but it’s punchy. It gets your attention and it’s high-quality. It’s not something that it looks like somebody made on a budget. They did a really good job.”

‘Probably the coolest NIL commercial’

The two commercials are the latest installments in the bank’s series of short, punchy, supremely edited commercials featuring Fresno State athletes. Viewers might get a feeling of deja vu from either “The Office” or the series of “This is SportsCenter” commercials that first aired in the mid-1990s. The opening scene features natural sound, a video of the front of the bank and the supposed date and time from when the scene took place.

“Obviously I’m biased here but I thought this was probably the coolest NIL commercial that I’ve seen so far,” Escovedo said.

Each commercial highlights a Fresno State athlete’s supposed first day working at the bank. Tymn, Miller and the bank’s creative team work with local content creation agency Backstory Creative to produce the commercials.

“Shit, I would hire them at this point,” Escovedo said of Backstory Creative.

Previous commercials have included former Fresno State women’s basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder, former softball pitcher Hailey Dolcini, defensive lineman David Perales, wide receiver Mac Dalena and former men’s basketball forward Orlando Robinson. The athletes will stop by the bank, where Tymn said there’s a buzz around the office and there’s catered food for the occasion.

“Obviously we’ve got more up our sleeves,” Tymn said. “Our stance has really been around promoting local sports athletes. Fresno First Bank is one of the largest single-branch banks in the United Sates and we’re based out of Fresno, California. We’re big supporters of Bulldog football and Fresno State. It’s a way for us to get in quick on NIL. We were one of the first to start doing NIL [deals] and I would say we’re the leader in the Valley and up and down California when you look at who’s doing NIL [deals].”

Jalen Cropper uses NIL to tell story of staying local

Coming out of Buchanan High School in Clovis, California, Cropper was a four-star recruit in the class of 2019, according to the On3 Consensus. He received offers from Louisville, Nebraska, Oregon and Utah, among other Power 5 schools. Instead, he chose nearby Fresno State, where he’ll soon begin his senior season after experiencing two coaching changes during his career. Coach Jeff Tedford returned for a second stint at the school, replacing Kalen DeBoer.

As a reigning second-team All-Mountain West selection who led the Bulldogs in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns last season, Cropper now has an On3 NIL Valuation of $230,000, which ranks No. 191 among college football players. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes using data points involving an athlete’s performance, influence and exposure.

Escovedo said Cropper’s college commitment fit the story of Fresno First Bank as a single-branch bank in the community.

“It probably relates back to his initial decision to attend Fresno State over some of the other opportunities that he had,” Escovedo said. “I think they already kind of pieced together this idea and I think that he was a particularly good fit for them because he was that guy that the opportunity to go, I mean, I don’t know about anywhere but a lot of places to play. I think he’s one of the best receivers in the country. He’s certainly exciting to watch…

“That’s what they were trying to promote is Fresno and community and his desire to stay in Fresno and to play and be in front of his friends and family.”

Some Fresno State athletes have transferred

Other athletes that Fresno First Bank has partnered with have later transferred, such as the Cavinder twins and Dolcini. Tymn said the company’s NIL deals are specifically structured regarding the length of the contract and the deliverables.

“We try to really focus on where they are right now in Fresno,” he said.

Escovedo credits Fresno First Bank for its investment in the university and its athletic programs.

“Fresno First [Bank], they imply that they appreciate these athletes that stay at home,” Escovedo said. “So they have an interest in the community and I think they also recognize that Fresno State’s a good program but it’s a mid-major, right? So it’s not going to get the funding of an Ohio State, an Alabama. Actually, they have a lot of national spots this year, as they should, because that’s a damn good team, but on average, they don’t get the same attention that Alabama does or Ohio State, and that’s fine.

“I think it’s important in a community like that that the local companies actually invest in the players, the college and the program. They’ve been doing that. They’ve been selecting pretty carefully their athletes from Fresno State.”