Opinion: UNLV’s QB mess over NIL first of many to come until athletes are made employees

Matt Sluka, the little-known quarterback at UNLV, became the most famous player in college football on Wednesday for one of two reasons.

The first version of the story – his version – is that a UNLV assistant coach verbally promised him a $100,000 name, image and likeness payment after transferring from Holy Cross and that the money never materialized when he got on campus.

The second version – the narrative being spun by people friendlier to UNLV – is that Sluka demanded a raise, so to speak, after becoming the starting quarterback for a 3-0 team that is well-positioned to make a run at the College Football Playoff.