Texas Longhorns Collaborate With Texas A&M Rivals on New NIL Deal

On Aug. 30, the Texas Longhorns will head to Columbus, Ohio, to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in their season opener.

In the meantime, however, three of the team’s key role players have embraced a challenge outside of the football realm: acting.

Joined by a well-known football player turned actor, Longhorns safety Michael Taeffe, edge rusher Collin Simmons and wide receiver Ryan Wingo participated in a recent Sonic advertisement.

Terry Crews and SEC football stars come together for Sonic

Taeffe, Simmons and Wingo collaborated with Terry Crews in the making of the new campaign, which portrays the three enrolling in “Terry Crews School for Acting for Athletes.”

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed and running back Reuben Owens are also featured in the advertisement, making it a partnership between SEC rivals.

The contents of the 34 second commercial revolve around this acting school, where the five players learn a new trade under the guidance of someone who has made a name for himself in both crafts.

Crews’ Career

Crews played as a linebacker in the NFL from 1991-1996, and he split his tenure between the Los Angeles Rams, the San Diego Chargers, the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles.

He then shifted his focus towards acting, getting his start in 1999 as the character “T-Money” on an extreme sports show called “Battle Dome.” Some of the more well-known projects he has been a part of include the movie “White Chicks” and the T.V. series “Everybody Hates Chris”.

Crews has also hosted “America’s Got Talent” since its 14th season and appeared on screen in a few similar programs as well.

College athletes couldn’t appear in commercials or receive compensation for any sort of endorsements prior to NIL’s introduction in 2021, meaning that opportunities like this commercial didn’t exist for Crews during his college days at Western Michigan.

The Sonic campaign argues that college athletes haven’t been taught how to act in order to capitalize on NIL in this modern era, and their proposed remedy is Crews’ classes. Taeffe, Simmons, Wingo, Reed and Owens all got to get a feel for acting through this experience alongside someone more experienced than them with a similar background.

The Longhorns and the Aggies will face each other officially on Nov. 28 at the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, but this commercial provides a lighthearted opportunity for these athletes to come together and continue establishing their brands before then.