Happy Gump Day! Competing NIL Bills hit the Senate, as Tubby and Manchin make the NCAA very happy

Happy Gump Day...we’re all officially old as hell.

Alabama has offered a schollie to “legacy safety” Dre Kirkpatrick, Jr.

Seriously. That much time has passed. It seems like it was just yesterday his old man was getting smoked by ugly Tim Tebow passes in Atlanta, and obstinately refusing to get his head around, despite being in-stride with almost every receiver he manned up on.

And that chill you felt up your spine just now? That was the icy scythe of the Reaper drawing one more step closer, inexorably bringing you to your eventuality as a fetid cadaver. Don’t forget to bring a coin to Charon — the ferryman will need it to carry you to the Underworld.

The “All-Gas Athlete Showcase” is underway, and several Tide targets are showing out, including a must-sign in-state LB:

The All Gas Athletes Showcase in Alabama on Sunday saw many of the state’s best take the field on Sunday. Founder and organizer Adrian Steele raved about Enterprise (Ala.) High Top247 2025 linebacker Eric Winters following the event.

“He’s unreal,” Steele said. “He might end up the best defensive player in the country. He’s a freak show. He looked unreal at linebacker and unreal at DB, too.

“He’s one of the best defensive players in the country period. He’s different. He’s big. His frame is unbelievable.”

The competition is going to be very, very stiff though, as the Tide are vying to sign Winters going up against some of the deepest pockets and dirtiest programs in the nation: “Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma (where he visited in the spring), Ole Miss, Texas, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and USC are among the programs to have already offered the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Winters.”

Watch his HUDL highlights from last year. The kid out of Enterprise is just built different, and can play all over the field.

But Winters is not the only Tide target turning heads. Plenty more at the link below

We’ve spoken a bit about this prospect before, highly-sought 4-star WR Amari Jefferson. Jefferson is taking all of his OVs and is going to visit his two finalists once more before his commitment. It looks like it’s coming down to the Tide and the home-state Vols, with no real lean either way.

Stay by the phone on August 5th — that’s when we’ll know.

In other crootin’ news, it’s Flippin’ Season, and the Tide looks to lose one this weekend — it’s certainly trending that way:

As Auburn and Alabama head into big recruiting weekends, Foley wide receiver Perry Thompson continues to be one of the hottest names.

Thompson has been committed to the Crimson Tide since June of 2022 but last week told AL.com that his final decision was up in the air between Alabama and Iron Bowl rival Auburn.

He is scheduled to be at Auburn’s Big Cat Weekend on Saturday.

“I was told months ago, by some good sources, that if Auburn was going to pull off an Iron Bowl flip that Perry was the most flippable compared to a Sterling Dixon, certainly compared to Ryan Williams,” said John Garcia Jr., national college recruiting analyst for Rivals.

“Perry has taken I think more visits to Auburn than Tuscaloosa. You start tracking those things and you feel like it’s maybe in Auburn’s favor if not a coin flip at best from the Alabama side of things. That one feels like a matter of when or if a decommitment is made and, if that happens, obviously Auburn becomes the overwhelming favorite.”

But, the Tide may be positioned to do a little flipping of their own, having finally offered in-state LB Bobby Pruitt from Theodore. And listening to Pruitt speak, it sounds like this was the offer he was waiting on:

“It felt good,” Pruitt told AL.com. “I’m excited about it. I talked with coach (Nick) Saban, and he told me.”

Pruitt committed to the Hurricanes last month. The 6-foot-3, 187-pound standout is currently the No. 26 senior prospect in the state, according to the 247 composite rankings. ON3 ranks him No. 20.

In helping Theodore to the Class 6A state semifinals as a junior in 2022, Pruitt averaged 8.3 tackles per game. He finished with 99 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks. He also had 8 quarterback hurries, 2 forced fumbles, 5 pass breakups and an interception.

Nate Oats is not to be outdone in this blue-chip game. Yesterday, Alabama offered 5-star F Asa Newell, who immediately announced he’s taking an Official to Tuscaloosa.

It’s easy to see why Newell is the No. 14 prospect in the nation. The 6’9” prospect out of Monteverde does so many things well: He moves great off-ball, he defends the full floor and contests shots, he’s outstanding in the two-man game, and he even has a nice little outside stroke for a tweener Big.

Finally

We leave you with this: Sens. Joe Manchin and Tommy Tuberville (I can’t believe I just f’n typed that), proposed NIL legislation yesterday, and it’s....substantial.

Needless to say, it also makes schools and the NCAA much happier than any other proposal put forth to date:

“Our bipartisan legislation strikes a balance between protecting the rights of student-athletes and maintaining the integrity of college sports. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to consider this commonsense legislation as a way to level the playing field in college athletics,” Manchin said in a statement.

The Protecting Athletes, Schools, and Sports Act would establish a regulator to oversee agents and collectives, the booster-funded organizations that provide many NIL deals to college athletes. It would also establish a uniform NIL contract for athletes, create a public website to publish NIL data without revealing names of athletes and require contracts to be disclosed within 30 days.

“Student athletes should be able to take advantage of NIL promotional activities without impacting their ability to play collegiate sports,” said Tuberville, the former college football coach. “But we need to ensure the integrity of our higher education system, remain focused on education, and keep the playing field level.

The bill would make it illegal for states to pass laws that permit college athletes to share revenue with schools and conference that generate billions from sports such as major college football and basketball.

Nor is it alone. Just last week, another proposal was set forth, and the one that’s been cooking the longest:

The bipartisan action is the second to come out of the Senate in the last week. Democrats Cory Booker (N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), along with Republican Jerry Moran (Kan.) put forth a draft bill of potential legislation to standardize NIL rules and provide long-term health care for college athletes.

Blumenthal and Booker have been working on this for almost half-a-decade now, since O’Bannon and Alford.

Like the Manchin/Dipshit bill, this is also bipartisan, but differs in that player safety is a core concern, rather than legislative certainty, preemption or compensation:

The legislation would provide those through the creation of College Athletics Corp., a non-governmental oversight and enforcement agency. The CAC would provide certification for agents looking to represent college athletes and negotiate NIL contracts, and maintain a database of NIL deals. It also would have subpoena power to investigate potential violations, something the NCAA infractions staff does not have.

The new governing body would also establish a medical trust fund athletes could access during and after their careers. The fund would come from contributions by the NCAA and schools and conferences that earn at least $50 million in revenue per year.

It’s a start, at least. And, like most issues in our federal system, Congress only truly began to act after the damage had been done and everyone’s hair was on fire. But, it seems as though we are finally getting there, albeit slowly, as these make their way through the legislative alimentary canal.

We’ll just have to see which vision wins out. I suspect the NCAA is going to lobby hard for Manchin/Tubby bill, as it shields them from state actions, better aids enforcement, and all-but backdoors the NCAA into anti-trust exemption without even having to go through the Judiciary Committee.

That’s it for now. You beautiful people have a great day, and Roll Tide.