Colorado State players turned down major money to stay with Rams

Colorado State has been a struggling football program for the better part of the last decade, but even a six-figure offer was not enough to inspire two of their best players to transfer schools.

Colorado State starting quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and star wide receiver Tory Horton were each offered $600,000 name, image and likeness deals to transfer this offseason. Both players told Richie Cozzolino of CBS News Colorado that they would rather finish what they started with the Rams.

“It’s how I was raised. I didn’t come here to make money. I came here to win games and play ball for the Rams,” Fowler-Nicolosi said. “I think if we play ball here, we do our job, we do what we’re supposed to, we win a championship and go to the playoff, shock the world, I think the money will come eventually. My job in college isn’t to sit here and try to make as much money as I can. I know the new landscape is exciting for a lot of people and there’s a lot of opportunities out there, but at the end of the day I’m a 20-year-old kid with higher goals in life than to make money in college.”

Horton has the same mindset.

“The money in college is nice, of course, with the new NIL stuff, but that’s not my ultimate goal,” the senior said. “My ultimate goal is not NIL in college, it’s the next level.”

Colorado State went 5-7 last year in their second season under head coach Jay Norvell, which was an improvement over 3-9 the year before. The Rams have not had a winning season since 2017 and have not won a bowl game since 2013.

Horton, who transferred to Colorado State from Nevada two years ago, had over 1,100 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns in each of his two seasons with the Rams. Fowler-Nicolosi threw for 3,460 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his first full season as a starter last year.

Horton projects as a starter in the NFL, so it was probably easier for him to turn down a significant NIL deal. Both he and Fowler-Nicolosi obviously feel good about where Colorado State is headed. You have to admire their decision to resist cashing in.

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