Mississippi State WR Jordan Mosley Strikes NIL Deal With Tattoo Artist

One Mississippi State wideout has become the first college athlete to strike an NIL deal with a tattoo artist.

Mississippi State transfer wide receiver Jordan Mosley has kept a picture of one of A.J. Terrell's tattoos on his phone since he was in ninth grade.

Now, he's built up a strong relationship with the artist and has used his platform to become the first collegiate athlete to make an NIL deal with a tattoo artist. That would be Vin Vega, who has worked with numerous well-known celebrities and athletes like Auburn running back Tank Bigsby, Rick Ross, Rich Homie Quan and Dwight Howard in addition to Terrell and Mosley.

Mosley says the relationship started with a simple Instagram message and developed into what it is today.

"I hit him up in the DMs one day," he said. "So I asked him if he had done the tattoo on A.J. Terrell and he said that he did and so I let him know that I wanted to get a tattoo whenever I'm over there. He respected the whole NIL thing whenever I brought it up."

Vega says the two are connected by Bigsby and that he feels deals like this could be the start of something positive and unique among college athletes in the NIL era.

"Our relationship has really grown through the deal and we've developed a really strong personal relationship," Vega said. "I don't currently have any deals with any other college athletes, but I'm sure that after this one they'll start piling up."

As all NIL deals are, it's a mutually beneficial relationship that allows Mosley to get pro bono work done and for Vega to drive business to an extended group of people. 

"I think it's a great thing that we are the first tattoo artist and student-athlete combination do an NIL deal," Vega said. "It works tremendously, because it allows my business to be seen through his platform. The ability to get closer to people of his elk and be able to serve them and to be able to use him as a vehicle for that I think was an amazing idea."

Vega says that since the two came to an agreement, a few of Mosley's teammates have shown some interest in addition to other athletes across the college landscape. All of the athletes who go through Mosley receive a discount through his promo code.

For Mosley, the deal comes down to more than just making money or receiving services without cost. He says there's value in freedom of expression and being able to use it in an era like this.

It was only back in 2011 that former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor and some of his teammates were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for selling items like championship rings and other things for defeating Michigan. They also received free or discounted tattoos from a local parlor, hence why the incident is so commonly referred to as "Tattoogate."

 To be able to emerge as the first athlete with a deal like this means a lot to Mosley.

"I've always liked tattoos and I've always wanted tattoos. Everyone knows about the whole Terrelle Pryor thing where at the time, NIL wasn't a thing," Mosley said. "So, he got in a bit of trouble for that. For me, I think this is a big step in the right direction for NIL deals because there's a lot more that can come about from this."

Moving forward, the former Northwestern Wildcat who comes to State with four remaining seasons of eligibility wants to see players from all over make the most of NIL.

"Only a very small percentage of players make it to the NFL and everyone knows that," Mosley said. 

"But everyone has something unique about them, so to be able to use it to our own benefit as college athletes, I think we can set ourselves up pretty well for the future. Obviously, the bigger the school, he bigger the NIL deals are. But I want to see everyone get a chance and have the attitude of that they can, even at the smallest schools."