"This ain't NIL": Deion Sanders makes a bold claim about the difference between collectives and NIL deals

According to Colorado coach Deion Sanders, NIL is not what college players think. He was seen teaching a class at the University of Colorado in a YouTube video posted by "Well Of Media" on Friday.

Sanders attended a course inspired by him, "Prime Time: Public Performance and Leadership," as a guest speaker. During a Q&A session, he told the undergraduate students that most college athletes do not have real name, image and likeness deals. His son, Deion Sanders Jr., filmed the conversation for his YouTube channel.

Recent NIL changes mean players can get paid for using their personal brand. But "Coach Prime" believes that’s not what is happening.

Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes walks off the field

“NIL is not really what you think it is, all these kids aren't getting NIL,” Sanders said. “These kids are getting collectives. Collectives is if we took an offering up in this classroom, we passed the bucket like a church … that's a collective. NIL is a name, image and likeness.”

Sanders said everyone is talking about NIL, but they don’t know the truth.

“Everybody's talking about NIL,” Sanders said. “This ain’t NIL, that's all you've seen. All these college athletes, and you named five people. This is not NIL ... That's what it's supposed to be, but it's collectives, and that's where it went wrong, instead of staying right.”

Sanders also discussed what a company looks for in student-athletes:

“A CEO to invest in you … Just say, a $100 million company, and I'm going to invest in a college kid that I don't know nothing about ... There's no way, so you kind of wait till those kids kind of prove to you that they could handle the light, they could handle the stage, they can handle the opportunity.

“But we're talking about collectives, and I'm sick of everybody in the country talking about NIL.”

NIL's impact shown in Deion Sanders' family gesture

Shedeur Sanders with Deion Sanders

Deion Sanders got a sweet gift from his sons, Deion Jr., Shilo and Shedeur Sanders, who are all making big money thanks to NIL. Deion Jr. works as his dad's social media manager and the CU football "media guy," while Shiloh and Shedeur play football for him at Colorado.

The two student-athletes signed NIL deals worth millions of dollars, so they, alongside Deion Jr., spoiled their dad with a fancy house. It has a mountain view and a pond for fishing in Colorado.

"You know what's awesome, though? My three sons had the thought process that they wanted me to see this. Because you all want to make sure I'm straight," Sanders said. "For y'all three to want to put it together ... So y'all make sure I'm straight when you're gone is unbelievable."

As Colorado Buffaloes head coach, Sanders has a huge contract of his own. He signed a five-year, $29.5 million deal before the 2023 season started.

Do you think college athletes should have more control over their name, image and likeness? Comment below.