On the cusp of the 45th anniversary of their defeat of the Soviet Union in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, the United States’ ‘Miracle on Ice’ Olympic men’s hockey team was honored at the White House on Friday, Dec. 12 with Congressional Gold Medals.
It led into a brief discussion on the current state of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in college sports when Team USA captain Mike Eruzione was asked about the topic by a reporter. Following a brief response from Eruzione, President Donald Trump joined the conversation and made a statement.
‘Something ought to be done, and I’m willing to put the federal government behind it,’ Trump said of overhauling NIL in college sports during a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office. ‘And if it’s not done fast, you’re going to wipe out colleges.’
This is not the first time that Trump has spoken on the state of college athletics in a time where NIL and the transfer portal have taken over. He made similar remarks on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ during a phone call interview on Veterans Day.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives recently pulled the scheduled final vote for the Republican-backed SCORE Act that would have allowed the NCAA and its recently formed College Sports Commission to create and enforce national rules that have been under legal dispute in recent years.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
