On Feb. 30, Ed Kull, director of intercollegiate athletics, announced that the Fordham football program would be partnering with the Jesuit Daily Newspaper, America’s sixth most-read Jesuit publication, to have its players model for its annual calendar. In what has been called one of the largest Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals in Fordham’s history, each participating Ram will receive tens of dollars.
Fordham Athletics has noted that this collaborative effort will connect the team to its Jesuit roots while also providing publicity for the football program, with team officials sharing that they hope to draw in recruits from the many high school football players who avidly read the Jesuit Daily Newspaper.
The announcement has not come without controversy, however, as rival Jesuit publication, The Ignatian Post, offered another sweeping NIL deal and was reportedly furious that the program opted to decline. In the rejected proposal, Fordham football players would have been included in the publication’s upcoming football video game, “Jesuit Kickoff,” a game featuring only Jesuit football programs that will be released for the GameCube, Atari and PlayStation 2 in early 2025.
Further controversy emerged when a proposed photo for the calendar shoot was leaked, which showed an anonymous Ram flexing and holding a football while donning priestly garb. The leak infuriated some conservative sects of the faith, with some calling the partnership “a despicable abomination.”
Unfazed, the Jesuit Daily Newspaper intends to complete the shoot in order to attract new demographic groups to its readership, particularly all 150 Fordham football fans. Such an expansion would increase the paper’s reach nearly tenfold and could keep the sixth-largest Jesuit publication in operation for years to come.
Kull reportedly expressed concern that such a deal could impact the mentality of the team going into next season. There is a fear that players could become pompous or arrogant after landing such a lucrative deal or that players could abandon their football careers to work with Jesuit Daily Newspaper full-time.
When asked about their feelings on the big news, Danger Boots, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’25 said, “We have a football team?”
Regardless of any controversies or trepidations, the collaboration represents a new era in NIL deals for Fordham. Whichever organization decides to follow up this lucrative deal will have big shoes to fill, as the Rams have established themselves as a major player in the NIL landscape.
