Bryce Underwood is going to make a lot of money to play college football at Michigan. He will also have Tom Brady as a resource throughout his entire career with the Wolverines.
The greatest of all-time offered to be a mentor to the five-star prospect if he committed to his alma mater.
According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Brady hopped on FaceTime with Underwood for the first time earlier this month. They have since communicated “multiple” times over the last few weeks. Brady, who won a Citrus Bowl against Arkansas and an Orange Bowl against Alabama while at Michigan, told Underwood that he will take him under his wing. Naturally, that potential relationship enticed the 17-year-old to (re)consider his future with the Wolverines.
As did the largest NIL deal in the history of Name, Image and Likeness. Underwood is reportedly set to receive $12 million over the next four years through the Champions Circle collective and, in part, Dave Portnoy. LSU was unable and/or unwilling to match the offer.
With these two factors in mind (Tom Brady and $12,000,000), Underwood ultimately decided to flip his commitment to Michigan. He was previously committed to the Bayou Bengals since January.
This new information about the seven-time Super Bowl champion is a very interesting pice of the puzzle. Although it would be hard to turn down seven figures, Underwood repeatedly taunted the Wolverines about their rumored NIL offers— which we now know was just him playing games on social media. There was reason to believe that he was going to turn down the money to stay with the Tigers because getting to the league was, and is, the most important component of his recruitment.
Now that Brady is involved, Michigan might actually present him with a better opportunity to develop into an NFL talent. Bryce Underwood can pick up the phone and ask advice from the best to ever do it.
NIL money is one thing. Mentorship is another!