The Standard

Faith, Family, Football: Johnnie Perkins on Navigating NIL with Character and Integrity In the complex world of Name, Image, and Likeness deals, Johnnie Perkins brings a unique perspective shaped by faith, extensive government experience, and a lifetime in athletics. As an NIL compliance and athlete services strategist, Johnnie lives by three principles: faith, family, and football, guided by 1 Co...

Championship Culture From Both Sides: Preston Ingram on 14 Championships and Developing All-Americans What does it take to be part of 14 championships as a coach? Preston Ingram knows because he's lived it. With over 28 years of coaching experience — 22 at the collegiate level — Preston has built a career on developing championship programs and players through integrity, relationships, and pe...

From Factory Floor to Super Bowl Champion: The Sly Williams Story That Defies Every Odd Some stories are so unlikely they sound fictional. Sylvester "Sly" Williams lived one of them. Sly played one season of high school football at Jefferson City High School in Missouri. He started one game. Zero college programs recruited him. After graduation, he found himself working in a factory, ass...

54 Years of Coaching, One Mission: Nate Crandall & Steve Galley on Transforming Young People and Families When two veteran coaches with Masters degrees in Psychology and Counseling decide to partner together, something powerful happens. Nate Crandall and Steve Galley have combined 54 years of coaching experience, nearly 50 years of teaching, and a shared passion for developing young people int...

Substance Over Sizzle: Justin Brashear on What Athletes Need to Know About Agent Relationships Justin Brashear played collegiate and professional baseball, navigating the world of agents, contracts, and career decisions as an athlete. Today, he's on the other side — as an attorney, NFLPA certified contract adviser, and founder of College Athlete Consulting, working exclusively to protect and...

From ACL Injury to Protecting Athletes' Brands: Chris D'Avanzo's Journey from Basketball Court to Trademark Law Chris D'Avanzo was a basketball player until an ACL injury changed his trajectory. That injury led him to coaching — first high school basketball, then Duke University Summer Basketball Camp. His coaching experience inspired him to pursue law school, where he continue...

Dr. Greg Chick earned his PhD in Higher Education from UMass Boston, where his dissertation used cutting-edge quantitative methodology to study the impact of NCAA policy on student loan debt. He could have kept this groundbreaking research locked away in academic journals. Instead, he chose to make it accessible to everyone who needs it. Through NILnomics, his free weekly newsletter, Greg breaks d...

For over 10 years, Steve Muturi has been building something transformative across Kenya and Africa — grassroots sports programs that develop youth talent, create economic opportunities, and drive social change in communities that need it most. As the Founder of Ni-Wakati Sports Africa and the AM4Potential Program, Steve organizes marathons and tournaments, identifies talent, promotes sports touris...

More Than an Athlete: Maya Dodson on Engineering Excellence, Academic Achievement, and Building Identity Beyond Basketball McDonald's All-American. Pac-12 Champion. Created her own major at Stanford: Engineering & Ethics. Earned a Master's from Notre Dame's Mendoza Business School. Second Team All-ACC. Drafted 26th overall in the WNBA. Maya Dodson isn't just a professional...

From Four College Transfers to Revolutionizing Athlete Representation: Braxton Wilks on Data-Driven Sports Management Braxton Wilks played college baseball at four different schools — Kansas State, McLennan in Waco, Texas, Abilene Christian, and Virginia Commonwealth. He lived the transfer experience before the transfer portal became what it is today, giving him unique insight into what athletes r...

1,051 Catches and a Legacy That Goes Beyond Numbers: Nik Lewis on 15 Seasons of Excellence When Nik Lewis broke Geroy Simon's CFL receptions record on August 24, 2017, it was the culmination of a 15-year career that redefined what it means to be an elite receiver in professional football. Nik's journey began at Southern Arkansas University, where he was an NCAA Division II All-American....

From Practice Squad to Super Bowl Champion: Emmanuel Smith on Building Winning Cultures Most undrafted free agents never make it past their first training camp. Emmanuel Smith went undrafted, bounced between practice squads, and won a Super Bowl ring. At Vanderbilt University, Emmanuel played linebacker in the SEC before signing with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2018. What fol...

Building Basketball Careers with Integrity: Simon Oehlmann on International Basketball and Life Beyond the Game The basketball industry sells athletes a lot of lies about professional careers. Simon Oehlmann built ALL RISE to tell them the truth. As the founder of an international basketball management agency, Simon has spent 20+ years negotiating and structuring contracts across Europe and the U....

Most athletes who get projected as first-round picks expect to hear their name called on draft day. Jared Pinkney was different — he went undrafted and turned it into opportunity. At Vanderbilt University, Jared was a second-team All-SEC tight end projected as a first-round NFL Draft pick by ESPN analysts Todd McShay and Mel Kiper. When draft day came and went without his name being called, Jared...

Building Pathways for Overlooked Athletes: Michael Greer on Training Talent from Youth to the Pros Most athletes who don't get drafted are told their dream is over. Michael Greer disagrees. As the founder of Athletes Network, Michael has spent decades building pathways for athletes at every level — from youth football and basketball to undrafted free agents trying to get noticed by the NFL, C...

In this powerful episode of The Standard Podcast, former Division I and professional athlete Jeremy Campbell breaks down the truth behind athlete identity, transition, and legacy. From the “gladiator mindset” to the emotional crash that happens when the game ends, Jeremy shares raw insight into what athletes really face when the lights go out. He reveals why most athletes aren’t prepared for life...

The average NFL career lasts 3.3 years. Malik Jackson played for 10 seasons. Malik was selected in the fifth round (137th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Fifth-round picks aren't supposed to last a decade in the NFL. They're not supposed to win Super Bowls. They're not supposed to make the Pro Bowl. But Malik Jackson did all three. In Super Bowl 50, Malik score...

21 Seasons, 3 World Series, and What It Really Takes to Last Most Major League Baseball careers last 5.6 years. Randy Choate played for 21 seasons. Over his distinguished career, Randy appeared in 538 games, played for 8 different organizations (New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, Florida/Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals), and was part of three World Seri...

37 Years, 746 Wins, and What Character Really Means Chip Reitano has been coaching for 37 years — and he's still going. Approaching 350 wins in women's basketball and 746 wins across his entire coaching career spanning high school and college, Chip has been recognized as High School Coach of the Year four times and College Coach of the Year twice. But if you ask Chip what defines his car...

Jay Jackson was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the ninth round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He never played a game for the Cubs. Instead, Jay spent nearly two decades grinding through professional baseball — six MLB teams (San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins), four years playing in Japan (Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Chiba Lotte Marines),...

What happens when you spend 24 years coaching college basketball, win championships, develop NBA stars, and then transition to business? Tim Kaine lived that journey. As a college basketball coach at Murray State, Tim coached NBA star Ja Morant, won four OVC regular season championships, three tournament titles, and two NCAA tournament games. He served as Chief of Staff and Assistant Coach at LSU,...

What if your job as an athletic director, coach, or leader wasn't about winning games — it was about transforming people? John Woods lives that reality every day. As Athletic Director at Libertyville High School, John oversees one of the largest athletic departments in Illinois — 31 varsity sports, 93 teams, and a $1.1 million budget. But those numbers don't define his work. For more tha...

Davide Igono played for the West Virginia University Mountaineers and was part of their 2006 Sugar Bowl winning team. He went on to play professional football. And then he made the transition that so many athletes struggle with — building a career and financial future beyond the game. Today, Davide is an entrepreneur with 8 years of experience in financial services, helping athletes, entrepreneurs...

Brian DiNapoli has spent over 30 years in public service, community engagement, and youth development. And he saw a gap no one was filling. Student-athletes are facing unprecedented pressure — NIL deals, social media visibility, mental health challenges, substance use risks — and most don't have the resources or support to navigate it safely. So Brian built NIL Insight — a platform providing...

College athletes are signing NIL contracts they don't fully understand. And it's costing them. Max Rusakov and Calum Kuhn saw the problem and built the solution: RevU — an AI contract-intelligence platform that empowers college athletes to do NIL with confidence. Max, a recent SMU graduate with a background in finance and management, leads operations and partnerships at RevU. Calum, the...