Tommy Tuberville Speaks on Nick Saban Visit and NIL
Senator Tommy Tuberville spoke with Tide 100.9's Ryan Fowler on his afternoon show The Game with Ryan Fowler on Thursday afternoon.
During the conversation, he discussed his meeting with Alabama football head coach Nick Saban, the latest on Name, Image and Likeness bills, Title IX, and much more.
"The NIL is, as Nick Saban has told me and all the other coaches, it's out of control. And so, Joe Manchin and I've been writing a text on a bill for the last year and we've done a lot of work on it and talked with collectives, we've talked with ADs, presidents, athletes, parents, coaches, all over the country, because what we do up here is not a regional bill, it is a national bill that really has nothing to do with rules. It's a law. And so I told these guys that and say what we do, you can't break it. And so what we're trying to do, is we're trying to get all 50 states doing the same thing," said Tuberville.
He also gave an update on the current bill.
"We had a text made, I gave it to all the coaches and athletic directors, lots of other states, conferences, and they read it and we sat down. We had some great comments and we made some progress. Most of it they liked, some they didn't. We made some changes. I think we made a lot of progress with it. I think we've got it to the point now where we can take it to the floor of the Senate and start selling it to the to both sides, Republicans and Democrats from all states," said Tuberville.
He was also asked about when we could possibly see change.
"I would think the best case scenario it would be probably somewhere around football season, so where we get a vote on it, have an opportunity to push it through. You know, it can go through a lot quicker than it just depends on lobbying. We have some coaches that call their senators across the state and that's what happened. I mean, they're gonna have to be involved in this. They can't just sit back and hope they're Senator gets involved or their congressman. Coaches in basketball, football, baseball, women's sports, they're going to make phone calls. And so we'll start that, hopefully sometime this summer," said Tuberville.
To listen to the entire interview, click here.