'I didn't come here to make money': Colorado State quarterback reportedly turns down $600,000 to change schools

Colorado State University quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi reportedly turned down a massive sum of money to change schools and said his job as a college athlete isn't to maximize his revenue streams.

Colorado State coach Jay Norvell revealed in a recent press conference that Fowler-Nicolosi told him he was offered $600,000 to enter the transfer portal and play for Kansas State University.

'My job in college isn't to sit here and make as much money as I can.'

"He said that a guy from Kansas State called and offered him $600,000 because they lost their quarterback," Novell said in a video posted by On3. "I'm not accusing Kansas State of anything; I'm just telling you what the kid told me.

Massive contracts for the name, image, and likeness of college players are now routinely paid out since the rule change in 2021 allowed players to make money off their brands. It has since become somewhat common for athletes to transfer to bigger schools in hopes of growing their following and getting bigger endorsements.

Fowler-Nicolosi, however, offered a refreshing take on the situation when asked by reporters about not taking the offer.

"I didn't come here to make money. I came here to win games and play ball for the Rams," the sophomore replied. "I think if we play ball here, we do our job, we do what we're supposed to, we win championships, go to the playoff, shock the world, I think the money will come eventually."

The quarterback seemed confident that the money for himself and his teammates will eventually come with their success.

"My job in college isn't to sit here and make as much money as I can. I know the new landscape is exciting for a lot of people. 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. So as much as a blessing that would be and set myself up for a long time, I think if I do my job here and we get it done and perform like we know how we're supposed to, I think there's several people on this team that will be taken care of for life after college."

'The money in college is nice, but ... that's not my ultimate goal.'

Wide receiver Tory Horton may be one of the players the 20-year-old was referring to. According to CBS News Colorado reporter Richie Cozzolino, Horton was also "offered $600,000 to hit the transfer portal."

Horton too answered questions about his decision to stay and said growing as a person at Colorado State is important to him.

"You want to go somewhere where you want to be, and where you love, and where you enjoy growing and having that experience and becoming the man that you want to be," he explained. "The money in college is nice, but ... that's not my ultimate goal."

Horton added that he knew what he was getting with the Colorado State system and that also influenced his choice to stay put.

These decisions give hope to schools that worry that their top players will be targeted for transfers by bigger programs. However, Colorado State is not exactly a small school that doesn't have the revenue streams to make similar offers to its players.

The school was ranked 61st in a nationwide ranking of college athletic departments with over $61 million in annual revenue.

Kansas State was 49th with about $100 million in revenue.

Schools don't exactly want their offers out in the public eye, however, as Coach Norvell noted in his interview.

"If they don't want their name thrown in it, I think they should probably get a handle on their people," he said of Kansas State. "There's a lot of that going on in college football; that's just the way things are right now," he added.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!