Louisville punter Brady Hodges skips Sun Bowl over NIL controversy

Even punters are getting mired in NIL controversies.

Louisville senior punter Brady Hodges was conspicuously absent from the Sun Bowl on Tuesday, and he took to X to explain that he hasn’t been paid what he was promised by the university’s NIL collective.

“I have not been with the team since December 10th,” Hodges wrote. “@502_Circle told me September 6th, they would be paying and are still yet to hold up their end of the deal. I graduated on December 13th and had every intention on being with the team had they held up their end of the deal.”

Louisville defeated Washington in a wild Sun Bowl shootout, 35-34, to finish a 9-4 campaign.

In the transfer portal era, this is undoubtedly not what the Cardinals want out in the public eye, as incoming potential players might not want to negotiate with the school if they don’t stay true to their word.

It is unclear exactly how much Hodges was owed by the Cardinals, but that the punter was being offered legitimate NIL money tells you nearly every player on every team is being paid in some way.

Hodges averaged 39.4 yards per punt this past season and Carter Schwartz instead handled all six punts during Tuesday’s win.

Schwartz earned Special Teams MVP honors for his performance.

On3 projects 502 Circle to be the ninth-most funded NIL collective in college sports, with between 125 and 150 athletes under contract, including the entire men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The projection from On3 shows that the NIL deal is worth $20 million for the men’s basketball and football teams combined.

Transfer portal rankings project Louisville as the No. 1 school in the country, grabbing up some of the best moving college football players.

NIL disputes are becoming more and more prevalent, with UNLV losing its starting quarterback during the season and a former Florida recruit suing the school for allegedly defrauding him out of $13.85 million.