New NIL program will pay each Texas offensive lineman $50,000 a year

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Horns with Heart, a nonprofit charity organization, will provide every scholarship offensive lineman at Texas with $50,000 annually as part of a new NIL program, the latest in a series of launches by Longhorns supporters that likely will spur a new type of arms race in college sports.

The program, appropriately named The Pancake Factory, will be the first of its kind: It will support a football position group for players to participate in charitable endeavors. It will begin August 1, 2022, with a total of $800,000 annually earmarked for the offensive line sponsorship.

Five months into the NIL era, boosters at most schools still are trying to navigate the patchwork of state and university regulations to figure out how they can financially support athletes. But a wide swath of deep-pocketed Texas fans are way ahead of the game, pooling their resources and ensuring that Longhorns supporters are establishing a breakneck pace on the NIL front.

“It is us and Oregon, and that should be how it is,” Rob Blair, one of six co-founders of Horns with Heart, told On3. “Getting out at the forefront of (NIL) is the biggest thing for us — making sure Texas is not getting left behind. Regardless of the product on the field, our support for the University of Texas goes well beyond wins and losses.”

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