Isaac Hodgins, Oregon State teammates use NIL to create lawn care business

Isaac Hodgins, a defensive lineman at Oregon State, has always looked for ways to make ends meet when he’s not on the football field. He’s not alone. Like an average college student, college football players consistently need to find a source of income to make ends meet while they’re in school.

Thinking about the opportunities that NIL offers student-athletes, Hodgins and several of his Oregon State teammates had an idea. It’s called, “Dam Good Home Exterior Services.” It’s a home exterior service company founded by Hodgins, as well as Logan Horton, Jake Overman and Quinn Smith.

This is an idea that wouldn’t have been possible before NIL because they are able to market their service as being run by Oregon State players. Prior to the NCAA passing interim NIL legislation, they wouldn’t have allowed to run this business with Oregon State-centric marketing.

The primary service they offer is a landscaping service, however, they offer services such as power washing. The business is primarily serving the Corvallis area.

“With NIL, instead of doing hit and miss jobs, we can do something that we can get our names behind. Kind of use this new thing to the college frontier to our advantage,” Hodgins told Oregon Live.

What makes this NIL?

Technically, a football player always could have made money working on the exterior of someone’s home. What makes what Isaac Hodgins and his teammates a unique case is the role NIL plays in the promotion and marketing of their business.

“We are a business owned by current and former Oregon State Football Athletes. We specialize in exterior home services that will leave your home looking Dam Good,” reads one of their advertisements.

They also offer autographs and photos for an extra charge. Their logo has a beaver on it, too, associating them with the program.

Previously, it would have been against the rules for them to advertise like this. Even if they entirely disassociated from the Oregon State football program, some may have argued that this violated previous NIL restrictions.