Louisville Punter Blasts NIL Collective To Explain Bizarre Opt-Out Of College Football Bowl Game

Louisville punter Brady Hodges did not play in the Sun Bowl on Tuesday afternoon. He claims the decision to opt out of the college football game stemmed from a lack of payment from the university’s NIL collective, 502 Circle.

None of this information was made public prior to kickoff so CBS’ broadcast team was baffled when backup punter Carter Schwartz lined up in the backfield in El Paso.

Brady Hodges started every college football game for the Cardinals in 2023 and 2024. The fourth-year senior punted 51 times for 2,103 yards over the course of two seasons for an average of 41.2 yards per kick.

However, he was not on the field when Louisville went punt on 4th-and-1 during the first quarter against Washington. Schwartz, who had also punted 12 times in eight games this year, trotted out instead. Even before that point, CBS noticed that Hodges was not there in any capacity. It called down to the Cardinals’ Sports Information Director and asked what was going on, but the SID did not know either.

Without any additional knowledge of the situation, everybody just assumed that Brady Hodges opted out at the last possible second. The assumption made sense given the circumstances.