Superstar Running Back Chasing History Over NIL Money with Transfer Decision

The Boise State Broncos have a superstar running back that chose them over NIL money and is on his way to history.

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At the outset of the 2024 college football season, the projected Heisman Trophy finalists, an award that has become a mostly quarterback award, were set.

The usual suspects manned the list, those that take the ball from the center and light up the scoreboards and opposing defenses with their arms, racking up passing yards with ease every Saturday.

This year, now over halfway into the season, things have changed drastically, all thanks to one man representing the Boise State Broncos with pride.

“I told those (schools), ‘You guys overlooked me three years ago. Now you want me?’” Ashton Jeanty told USA Today, "It just made me realize I made the right decision all along by coming here.”

Jeanty enters the week with 1,248 yards rushing on only 126 attempts, a 9.9 yards per attempt average for those keeping score at home, with 17 (not a typo) rushing touchdowns through the Broncos' first six games.

The junior running back is filling up the stat sheet with ease, and could find his name in the record books when all is said and done this season, should he surpass the legend Barry Sanders and his single-season record of 2,628 rushing yards.

It all may not have happened if Jeanty decided to take the plethora of NIL deals that he was offered and transfer to another school, but the junior remained loyal to the school that proved its interest in him while he was still in high school, and it has paid off in spades.

Jeanty now sits among the projected Heisman finalists, and if he continues to do what he has done to this point in the season, he will be the man to bring home the trophy in December.

Only three running backs have won the award since 2000, Reggie Bush in 2005, Mark Ingram in 2009, and Derick Henry in 2015, and a Boise State player has never won the coveted trophy.

Jeanty has helped lead the Broncos to the top of the Mountain West Conference standings, and should they remain there, he will have no less than seven more games to break Sanders' record.

If Boise State wins out, including the conference championship, the team is all but guaranteed a College Football Playoff berth, giving the running back no less than eight games to accomplish the feat.

While it is no easy task, if anyone is capable of reaching that plateau, it is Ashton Jeanty.

And it all began with Jeanty deciding to chase history over the All Mighty dollar.