Two of the top freshman football players at the University of Tennessee will be driving around Knoxville in style this spring. Boo Carter and Mike Matthews both signed NIL deals with a local car dealership during their first semesters of college.
In turn, they received a new set of keys from Volunteer Automotive Group!
Carter, a four-star safety, signed with the Vols over scholarship offers from 45 different schools. Matthews, a four-star receiver, chose the Vols over 32 other offers. They both chose to enroll early to participate in spring practice and will pull up to the Anderson Training Center in style.
The dealership dropped high-quality hype videos to flex the new NIL deals.
Vol Auto set Carter up with a Mercedes AMG GLE 63 S Coupe that is tricked out with the night package. Its sticker price hovers around $130,000.
Vol Auto set Matthews up with a Mercedes AMG GLE 53. Its sticker price falls somewhere between $100,000 and $110,000.
This is not earth-shattering news. For an athlete to get the lease to a six-figure luxury whip is the new normal in an era of college football that currently does not have any rules surrounding NIL. It was happening before the courts ruled against the NCAA as well.
Vol Auto Group has provided multiple vehicles to Tennessee athletes on multiple different teams: from baseball to soccer to football. They are working closely with the university, its athletic department, and the associated NIL collective to make sure that their people are well taken care of while playing for the school. This is happening all over the country.
Still, Matthews and Carter have been on campus for less than three months. They have yet to take a legitimate on-field rep for Tennessee. And yet, they’re already being treated like superstars!