All Hogs

Flying vehicle next big extravagance in NIL race for Razorbacks, college sports

Arkansas players could be zipping around Ozarks as early as next season

Kent Smith

The Jetson One will be the first flying car to potentially factor into college sports recruiting by way of NIL.
The Jetson One will be the first flying car to potentially factor into college sports recruiting by way of NIL. / https://www-jetson.com/index.html
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There is a saying that used to come up in the old editorial cartoons regarding the Arkansas Razorbacks that once splashed across the front page of the statewide newspapers each Sunday back when that was a thing.

Often after a win, especially if it featured passing touchdowns or lots of dunks, the cartoonist would use the phrase "When pigs fly!" as the theme of the artwork. Well, welcome to an era where that can, and probably will soon literally happen at the University of Arkansas, and it has nothing directly to do with either feat taking place.

See, we now live in a world where personal electric aerial vehicles exist and the initial models being rolled out are reasonably priced enough to be worked into the next round of NIL contract agreements.

For those who are having a hard time processing this, the name of the first model to be produced for use in the United States is called the Jetson One.

A promo image of the Jetson One promotes the fact there is no need for a pilot's license in the United States.
A promo image of the Jetson One promotes the fact there is no need for a pilot's license in the United States. / https://www-jetson.com/jetson-one.html

The 40+ crowd probably gets it, but for those who hatched a little later, it's a reference to the Jetsons and their world of flying cars zipping people around to work.

That once animated world has come to life without the prohibitive requirement of needing a pilot's license. This means any athlete can hop in and fly one with minimal training.

Preorders are being taken now with construction and delivery time claimed to 6-12 months, just in time for a quarterback or prized defensive back to become the first player to miss games for a personal aircraft injury instead of a scooter accident.

With a deposit of $8,000 due up front and a final payment of $120,000 due just before delivery, it's certainly the next evolution of recruiting bait in the NIL world. Whether Arkansas steps into the personal aircraft race will remain to be seen.

The Jetson One order form shows a required $8,000 deposit and $120,000 due at time of delivery for this personal flying car.
The Jetson One order form shows a required $8,000 deposit and $120,000 due at time of delivery for this personal flying vehicle. / https://www-jetson.com/order.html#orderForm

If there's a school that will take the plunge first, it will likely be Texas. Austin is a city that embraces technology and Longhorn arrogance to become the first team to upgrade from Lamborghinis to Jetson Ones is almost too much to not guarantee.

That means the Hogs will find themselves needing to get their players zipping around Northwest Arkansas through the air sooner than later to compete for top recruits. While the idea of key players possibly smashing their flying car into the side of a mountain or a parking garage likely has Razorbacks fans uneasy, there is at least the solace of knowing most Arkansas athletes don't qualify to fly this first model.

Right now, the max weight to fly a Jetson One is 210 pounds. This means if the vehicles were available for this past recruiting cycle, Trevon Brazile, Karter Knox, NIck Pringle, Malique Ewin, Elmir Dzafic and Paulo Semedo wouldn't qualify as potential drivers for the basketball team.

Based on watching Billy Richmond skying against Memphis on defense Monday night, he would make perfect sense to get a high dollar NIL representing Jetson One as its spokesperson.

As far as football goes, 43 players, mostly a collection of wide receivers and defensive backs with a few undersized freshmen linebackers sprinkled in, would be candidates for a Jetson One. Of those, defensive backs Julian Neal and Caleb Wooden, along with wide receiver Omega Blake and freshman kicker Scott Starzyk are among the names of those whom Hogs fans would be familiar.

It also can continue flying if it loses an engine and has an auto landing system built in. There is also a ballistic parachute system included.

One possible comfort for coaches is if a player accidentally run the battery dead before returning home, it won't be too far of a drive to go pick him up. The Jetson One only has a battery life long enough to fly a Razorback athlete for 20 minutes.

At a max speed right around 100 km/h, which translates to roughly 63 mph, the furthest anyone is going to venture is about 20 miles away. That's just enough to maybe fly from the University of Arkansas to the Top Golf in Rogers for an NIL appearance event, but it would take another full charge to get back.

If something took place in Bentonville, the personal aircraft will have to be left at home because there's not enough juice to get there. Obviously, this first iteration of flying cars in the United States isn't going to be practical.

The price tag alone means most will be contained in Northwest Arkansas as property of a few Razorbacks athletes and a handful of Wal-Mart and JB Hunt executives. Perhaps Hogs booster Frank Fletcher grabs one to fly back and forth between his car dealership and restaurant during rush hour, but beyond that, there won't be many in Central Arkansas for a long while.

It's weird that Hogs fans now live in a world where their pigs can fly. However, considering the wacky world of NIL, life in a 1960s animated cartoon will be reality sooner than later.

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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