Quarterback Tate Martell hasn’t gotten off to the start that he hoped at UNLV, but it was revealed on Wednesday that he’s landed a notable endorsement deal.
Martell, 23, has reportedly become a brand ambassador for “It’s Just Wings”, a virtual brand that operates out of more than 1,050 kitchens in various location across the United States. In his new role, the UNLV quarterback will be “outfitted with It’s Just Wings attire and will leverage their social media and on-campus presence to promote the brand and share exclusive offers with fellow students.”
Martell isn’t the only notable college football player that will benefit from the NIL opportunity. University of Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams and University of Florida quarterback Emory Jones are also partnering with the brand.
The new NIL partnership is quite the deal for Martell, who’s played just a handful of snaps over the past few years. After beginning his college football career at Ohio State in 2017, he’s transferred to Miami, switched from quarterback to wide receiver and back again, opted out of the 2020 season and transferred again to UNLV.
No matter what his journey in college athletics has been, Martell can still cash in on the NCAA’s new policies regarding name, image and likeness.
When your “headliner” is a guy who’s thrown 1 pass in a a game since 2019 … pic.twitter.com/4HrRqq0f2u
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) September 8, 2021
Seeing Martell play again he opted out of the 2020 season wasn’t a given. The 23-year-old quarterback opened up about his decision to transfer for a second time earlier this month on TikTok and revealed that he almost decided to leave football all together.
“The schools I was talking to randomly stopped talking to me once I told them I had surgery on my thumb,” Martell wrote in a series of slides on the TikTok post. “I hit rock bottom about a year ago and was going to quit football. Decided one random day to leave Miami and come home and train. Dedicated all my time to graduating, getting in the best shape of my life and changing myself as a person.
“Then two months ago I had surgery on my thumb, thought everything I worked to become was for nothing. UNLV still gave me the opportunity to play for them. I’m extremely grateful. I’m continuing to recover from surgery and work everyday with my teammates.”
Martell’s time at UNLV got off to a rocky start due to the lingering thumb injury that he carried with him into summer camp. He was limited in practice throughout August and left off the Week 1 depth chart with no clear indication of when he’d be back.
UNLV lost its season opener in overtime to Eastern Washington. The Rebels will try to bounce back on Saturday at Arizona State.
The post Look: Tate Martell Has Landed An Endorsement Deal appeared first on The Spun.
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