WATCH: Ricky Williams gives surprising take on NIL changing college sports

It’s been more than a year since NIL made its way into the college sports landscape, and it’s made quite an impact in that amount of time. Opinions continue to roll in about what it does for college athletics, and former Texas star Ricky Williams shared his thoughts this week.

Williams, a Heisman Trophy winner who’s now becoming an entrepreneur, joined “My Other Passion” from Front Office Sports to assess the current state of NIL. He shared his concerns about where things stand, acknowledging some potential downfalls.

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Ricky Williams was a Heisman-winning running back at Texas.

His NIL potential would have been huge.@Rickthelaureate shares his thoughts on NIL with @ernestbaker as our next guest on My Other Passion » https://t.co/bvfmKhkjt6

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“To me, the most interesting shift in sports business is the NIL deals in the NCAA,” Williams said. “To me, that’s revolutionary because when I was coming up, the joke was the star player drives up in a fancy car. Now, all of the star players are driving up in fancy cars. So much of the biggest taboo in college sports is becoming the norm, and it seems somewhat unregulated. It’s amazing to me. It’s wild to think, and I’m curious about the long-term effect to this in amateur sports.

“And I’m a traditionalist in the sense of I believe college sports should be amateur. Amateur from the root of more meaning playing for the love of the game. Not that money always taints the love of the game, but it can make it complicated, especially when you’re young. I’m just afraid with the transfer portal and NIL deals that college sports, it’s pretty much already become professional sports and I think you’re going to lose the love of the game and the appreciation of a college education.”

Ricky Williams: ‘I wish I would’ve had this opportunity’

Williams also shared his ideas for the next steps in NIL while also admitting he wishes he could’ve cashed in during his time as a Longhorn. But he didn’t just mean it from a monetary standpoint. He talked about the educational benefit that comes with NIL.

“I would say if I did it, I would say the money should go in a trust that comes to a player once they graduate. … I don’t think the player should be exploited, but I also don’t think an opportunity to get an education should be taken advantage of or exploited,” Williams said.

“But again, I think it’s great that they’re able to make money. I hope that they’re being educated. I wish I would’ve had this opportunity because when I did get to the NFL and the big money start coming, I would’ve had a little bit of practice.”