Penn State Names Omar Easy to Lead New Brand Academy
More than a year after announcing the Penn State Brand Academy, an NIL initiative funded through a grant honoring Wally Triplett, Penn State appointed football letterman Omar X. Easy to lead the project. Easy, a former Penn State football and NFL running back, will guide the academy's mission to support Penn State athletes as they navigate NIL and entrepreneurship.
The Brand Academy marks Penn State's newest initiative in assisting athletes to develop personal brands, build businesses and monetize their names, images and likenesses. Penn State initially announced the Brand Academy in late 2022 after receiving an anonymous $2.5 million donation to create the Wally Triplett Brand Academy Endowment, which honors the trailblazing Penn State football player. Through a university matching program, the Wally Triplett Brand Academy Endowment will begin with a $5 million fund.
Easy, who lettered at Penn State from 1999-2001, played professionally for four seasons in Kansas City and Oakland. He earned his PhD in educational leadership from Penn State and worked for the football program in 2012 as the director of player development. According to a Penn State release, Easy recently held educational leadership roles in Massachusetts.
“I am excited and extremely grateful to be leading this initiative and directing the Brand Academy,” Easy said in a statement. "This is an amazing opportunity for our student-athletes and a privilege for me to serve in this leadership capacity in honor of our late great Wally Triplett, whom I had the distinct pleasure of knowing before he passed. Establishing this academy is nothing shy of innovative and forward thinking as we navigate this ever-evolving NIL space.”
The Brand Academy is a joint venture of Penn State Athletics and Invent Penn State, a $30 million university-wide venture dedicated to entrepreneurship and innovation. Penn State said it devised the academy concept after NIL legislation in Pennsylvania gave athletes the opportunity to monetize their names, images and likenesses. According to a 2022 news release, the Brand Academy seeks to educate athletes about building their personal brands, activating endorsements and sponsorships and avoiding negative deals and restrictive legal contracts.
Triplett, who died in 2018 at 92, played tailback and linebacker at Penn State in the 1940s at a time when much of college football was segregated. In 1945, Triplett became the first Black football player to start for Penn State, and he and his teammates voted in 1946 and '47 to cancel Penn State games against Miami, whose roster then was segregated. During the 1947 season, Triplett and teammate Dennie Hoggard became the first Black players to participate in a game at Dallas' Cotton Bowl, where the Lions played SMU.
In 1948, Triplett became the first Black player drafted by, and to play for, an NFL team. The Detroit Lions selected Triplett in the draft's 19th round, and Triplett played four NFL seasons. His 1950 average for kickoff returns (73.5 yards per game) remains an NFL record.
"Penn State meant a lot to my granddad because it opened up doors to his success in important ways,” Triplett's granddaughter Ayanna McConnell, president and CEO of the University of Michigan Alumni Association, said in a statement. "He truly had an entrepreneurial spirit, so this endowment is a great alignment of his interests, and I think he would be proud to have his name connected with Penn State’s efforts to help student-athletes to be successful in this way."
According to Penn State, the Brand Academy will be located in the Morgan Academic Center adjacent to the Lasch Football Building.
“Dr. Easy has an extensive history in education, programming, and personal brand building through his own experiences in professional sports and higher education,” Brandi Stuart, Penn State deputy athletics director for administration and external operations, said in a statement. "He also understands the demands on Penn State student-athletes as well as the opportunities associated with obtaining a degree from Penn State. With this generous endowment from the Wally Triplett Brand Academy and his vision for the program, our student-athletes will certainly have a unique opportunity to be leaders in the NIL space."
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