Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman shares $50K of NIL earnings with walk-ons

Oklahoma star linebacker Danny Stutsman is using his NIL platform to give back.

The senior announced during a team meeting on Wednesday night he’s sharing his own NIL earnings with Oklahoma walk-ons. His agent Brian Bradtke shared with On3 that Stutsman is divvying up $50,000 of his own NIL dollars with 18 walk-ons along with gifting each of them a JBL care package.

“Obviously there’s a day where you feel like your hard work doesn’t get seen, doesn’t get noticed,” Danny Stutsman told the walk-ons in front of the team on Wednesday. “But it really does here at Oklahoma. Every single day we appreciate you guys. This team would be nothing without you guys. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

“I feel like I have a really good connection with all of you guys and I just know how much you put into this program… With that being said, I want to donate some of my NIL earnings to you guys.”

Our guy @FbStutsman continues to be a leader on and off the field and has generously donated a large portion of his NIL earnings back to the walk-ons who have been loyal to our program and Team 130 🙌

Subscribe to @join1oklahoma to help support more moments like this and the… pic.twitter.com/6QOkwGCC18

— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) August 28, 2024

The 6-foot-4, 243-pound linebacker enters the season with 267 career tackles with 28 tackles for loss, seven sacks and three interceptions. A third-team AP All-American selection last season, he’s started 25 of the 35 career games he’s played in.

He went viral last season after the Red River Rivalry. Wearing the Golden Hat on his head, cigar in his right hand and flashing a Horns Down, Stutsman posed for his photo that will live in Red River Rivalry history. The photo has over 52,000 likes on Instagram and landed him on the Pat McAfee Show and The Jim Rome Show.

Stutsman capitalized on it, too, launching a T-shirt with the Oklahoma City-based company Opolis Clothing on Wednesday. The shirt features an illustration of his famed photo and the line from his pregame speech on the back.

The linebacker holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $305,000.

“I’m walking up the tunnel and I was like, it smells like cigars,” he previously told On3 about the postgame scene of Red River Rivalry. “I was just walking through the locker room, people were celebrating and already taking pictures. I was like, ‘I got to take a picture.’ Had some sunglasses, and I love sunglasses. Popped those on. Then yeah, I took the photo. I went on with my day.”