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Anthony Richardson moving away from 'AR-15' branding

Untitled designby:Nick de la Torre•07/17/22•

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Photo courtesy of UF Communications

Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson is changing his branding. The redshirt sophomore was first given the No. 2 when he arrived at UF, but with the advent of name, image, and likeness legislation, he changed his jersey number to 15.

The nickname, which turned into the brand of his clothing company, was born.

Richardson will not include the “AR-15” moniker in any of his future branding. He does not want to be called “AR-15” anymore, whether by fans, media or during games.

“After discussions with my family and much thought, I have decided to no longer use the nickname ‘AR-15’ and the current apparel line logo, which features a scope reticle, as part of my branding,” Richardson said in a statement Sunday. “While a nickname is only a nickname and ‘AR-15’ was simply a representation of my initials combined with my jersey number, it is important to me that my name and brand are no longer associated with the assault rifle that has been used in mass shootings, which I do not condone in any way or form. My representatives and I are currently working on rebranding, which includes the creation of a new logo and transitioning to simply using ‘AR’ and my name, Anthony Richardson.”

His initials, AR, fit right in with his new number 15 and he became the first UF quarterback to wear the jersey since Tim Tebow. Former tight end Kemore Gamble had moved from No. 88 to No. 15 prior to the 2021 season, but Richardson negotiated another change with Gamble: the two swapped jersey numbers, Gamble taking Richardson’s No. 2 and Richardson switched to No. 15.

That was a huge part of the brand, with his website currently named shop “ar15apparel” dot com.

Contrary to popular belief, the “AR” in “AR-15” rifle actually refers to ArmaLite rifle. “AR” does not stand for “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle.” AR-15-style rifles are not “assault weapons” or “assault rifles”. An assault rifle is fully automatic, a machine gun. Regardless, the style of the rifle has been used in multiple schools and mass shootings and has become tied to the horrendous casualties.

Richardson is moving away from that stigma, officially.

Anthony Richardson’s NIL Value

Anthony Richardson currently has the highest NIL Valuation of any Florida Gator, according to On3. Richardson has the 54th highest valuation of any college athlete at $519,000.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college-level athletes. 

A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a specific moment in time.

The On3 NIL Valuation is comprised of many dynamic data points that focus on three primary categories:

+ Social media following and engagement
+ Athlete data, achievements, performance, and media sentiment
+ Endorsement deals, opportunities, and Collectives

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