We keep hearing about how NIL is destroying college athletics, but we don’t hear as much about athletes who put their NIL deals to good use in the community and in helping others.
Ole Miss star QB Trinidad Chambliss is the latest example of one such athlete.
Chambliss, who was able to return to Ole Miss after winning a court battle over eligibility, has signed an NIL deal with Mama Justice Law Firm, which was founded by Missy Wigginton.
The new partners are launching the Macon a Difference Scholarship, which awards three individual $15,000 scholarships annually to students from Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.
The scholarships will be funded through a five-year, $225,000 commitment and students can be a high school graduate in one of the three states or be a student currently enrolled at an SEC university in one of those states.
The Foundation was created in memory of Wigginton’s son, Macon McKinney, and after learning about Chambliss’ journey, she was reminded of her son.
“Macon had a heart for people who were struggling, and this scholarship is a direct extension of who he was,” Wigginton said in a statement. “I grew up poor in a family of factory workers who couldn’t afford college…When Trinidad and I sat down and realized how similar our stories are, we knew we had to do something together.”
Coming out of high school, Chambliss was ignored by DI programs, and ended up at Ferris State, where he won a DII championship. Last year, he transferred to Ole Miss and became a star while leading the team to the CFP semifinals. This year he’s already considered a Heisman candidate.
His journey and meeting with Wigginton inspired him to help others who were slighted or overlooked, and now he’s putting his own money (and his estimatedy $5 million NIL valuation per On3) into giving back.
“I didn’t get a single D-I offer out of high school, nobody was lining up to give me a chance,” said Chambliss. “People believed in me before I believed in myself, and my faith carried me the rest of the way. This scholarship is for every young person working twice as hard just to get to the starting line.”
Chambliss now joins the ranks of athletes like former Michigan Wolverine and current LA Rams running back Blake Corum, former Hurricanes QB D’Eriq King and current Wisconsin Badgers receiver Malachi Coleman, all of whom have used their NIL deals to help others.
So if you’re a student either attending or about to attend the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the University of Tennessee, or Vanderbilt University, you should look into the Macon a Difference scholarship.
