Hall of Famer Terrell Davis On Javonte Williams, Broncos Ownership, Georgia Football and NIL

Broncos Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis was back at his alma mater, the University of Georgia, on Thursday evening to talk financial education with student-athletes.

The two-time Super Bowl champion is a big proponent of college sports stars getting paid for their talents, and has partnered with Wells Fargo to help them understand how to maximize their earning potential.

Beforehand, Davis spoke exclusively with Sports Talk Philly about the Broncos, Georgia football, and how Reggie Bush may have missed out on $30 million by being in college before NIL. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Key topics in the interview

• Davis on Broncos RB Javonte Williams looking “the best I have seen him in a long time” on Sunday
• How Denver’s “fantastic ownership group” is building a top-notch organization
• Bo Nix’s potential and inconsistency
• The missed earning potential of Reggie Bush
• How Carson Beck “looked human” against Alabama, but showed resilience
• Georgia’s need to lean on the rushing attack despite the presence of Beck

Full Q&A

Q: Can you tell me about the partnership with Wells Fargo and the goals you have with it?

Terrell Davis: “Yeah, so I’m partnered with Wells Fargo and we’re helping student-athletes and their families get the financial education resources they need to really maximize their earning potential in this NIL era. It’s really a new dawn for these student-athletes, where they can profit off their name, image and likeness, and so (Wells Fargo) is doing a great job of being a resource to them and maximizing earning potential during their college playing years. And not only that, but manage their finances and avoid pitfalls.”

Q: The situation with the UNLV quarterback a couple weeks ago was interesting. He apparently didn’t get the money he wanted (and then transferred). Do you think it’s important for players to have enforceable contracts? Is that the next step, a binding thing on both sides?

TD: “The challenge with the way it is now is that the schools don’t make the agreements. It’s these collectives. Bringing it in-house is the only time you’d be able to enforce those contracts. I believe that’s where it’s headed, and it needs to be headed inside the universities. Because how are you going to enforce that with an outside (agency)? It’s the weirdest system ever. You have outside organizations that are literally negotiating contracts for coaches, and these outside organizations don’t preside over anything. It’s kind of wild. 

I think that’s where it’s headed, going in house, and yes, I think those contracts need to be binding. I also believe that, in the event of an athlete wanting to leave and go somewhere (else), if that person is under contract, then that other school has to pay a buyout contract, with maybe a slight little penalty on there, a luxury tax. 

But I do love NIL. I love the fact that these student-athletes are compensated not only for their on-the-field efforts, but any type of marketing that comes with that. I’m a fan of that, big-time.”

Running back @rodrob204 has teamed up with @WellsFargo and UGA legend @Terrell_Davis to break down financial X’s and O’s! 🏈 #BankOfDoing | #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/NWhVSTPD52

— Georgia Bulldogs (@UGAAthletics) October 3, 2024

Q: This is a broad question, but which player do you think would have made the most through NIL in college? Anybody stick out?

TD: “That’s a great question. It might have been Reggie Bush, man. I think Reggie Bush might have gotten $30 million if NIL had been around.

I wish it was available. You’re in college, and you’re at a time in your life where you’re young, you’re learning, and you’re being restricted from making money. That didn’t make sense to me at all. Couldn’t work. Couldn’t do anything. In college is where you need to try to figure things out so you’re prepared for the real world. If you don’t have access to money, you’re not getting it, you don’t understand taxes, you’re not managing it, saving it, how am I supposed to be efficient once I hit the real world? That, to me, never made sense.

But now as a student-athlete, let’s say you made a mistake. We all get excited about our first paycheck, right? I know I did. So it kind of takes that away, where it becomes less of, ‘I’m going to take this check and go blow it on a new car, or buy a new house.’ I think that’s actually helping a lot of these athletes in not rushing to go to the NFL. They know they can make money in college, so they can stay there, get more skilled, get more seasoned and then go to the NFL when they feel like they’re ready.”

Q: And looking at your college, how has (running back) Trevor Etienne looked so far?

TD: He missed the first game and now he’s back. They haven’t run it a lot. He had a couple nice runs against Kentucky, but they have to get back to running the football. I was surprised with the number of times they threw the ball against Alabama. They threw the ball a lot.

That was my biggest takeaway. Why are we throwing the ball so much? They have to get back to that identity of running the football. And forcing it. Not just doing it to please somebody. They have to run it and be intentional about it. When they establish that run game, it helps Beck, it helps the offensive line, everybody.

Q: I’m looking at projections and Carson Beck is the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick, so maybe they are leaning on him more because of that. Do you see that type of potential from him, where he can be in that conversation?

TD: “Yeah, but you also have to realize he’s human, and he’s going to have days like he had against Alabama. There’s no question in my mind that I thought he’s a first-round talent, and I still think he is. What I did like was that he showed resolve, showed the ability to bounce back. Even though he made a lot of mistakes in that game, he fought back.

Then he made another mistake at the end of the game, but when I’m looking for a quarterback, I need a dude that’s going to be resilient. Throw a pick? Keep going. Get yourself off the mat when things aren’t going well and continue to play. He showed me that.”

Q: Looking at the Broncos a bit, Javonte Williams is an interesting case. He looked really good early and then had that ACL (in 2022). The numbers haven’t been as good since. Does it seem like he’s still trying to make his way back from that? Is there less juice now?

TD: “I agree. I talked to him early last season, and I can empathize with him because I had the same injury, right? You come back, and although you think you feel like you’re 100 percent, you’re not. He’s not quite to where he can run and play without thinking about something. That has been hampering him the last year-and-a-half.

I did see this last game. That’s the best that I have seen him in a long time. That was encouraging to see him run with more energy in his feet and legs. They just looked a little quicker. And he was running with power.

So that tells me it wasn’t physical with him the last couple of weeks. That tells me that was still him trying to have confidence in his legs, that they could get back to where they were. I’m going to watch him again this week to see what happens. I’m hoping I get to see the guy that looks like the old Javonte, not the guy we saw the first three weeks. Because that did not look like him.”

Q: What do you think of the job Sean Payton is doing? He’s got the rookie quarterback now that’s struggled early on. What do you think about the trajectory of the team and how Payton is doing as coach?

TD: “He’s doing it the way he wants to do it. So far, does it look like what we expect? No. But that doesn’t mean he’s not on that trajectory. I’m like most people. I’m trying to be patient to wait and see what it looks like. They’ve won two games, which is more than I thought at this point. I thought they’d have one game or even no games at this point.

That’s a young team. There’s a still-growing quarterback who is trying to figure out who his main targets are. He’s trying to figure out how to be quarterback in the NFL. It’s a process, and I really do mean that. We want instant gratification. We want it to be final in four weeks, and it’s not going to be final. This thing is evolving. Every day it’s growing.

I still think there is tremendous upside to what they are doing. Ultimately, by the end of this season, I want to see that Bo Nix looks like the 12th overall pick. I want to see signs of that. That’s really what I’m looking forward to seeing. Do I think it’s in there? Absolutely. Have I seen it consistently? No, I have not.”

Q: How is your relationship with the new Broncos owners? I’m not sure how much you’re around the team, but do you know some of the ownership group?

TD: “Oh, yeah. Greg Penner, I love what he’s doing. I’ve met Condoleezza (Rice), Mellody (Hobson). I’ve met them all. Man, this is a fantastic ownership group. Since they’ve been there, they’ve done so much.

They don’t look at this as just a project, or we’re billionaires who own a team. They are running this like this is the only thing they have. They are putting a lot of love (into it). What owner changes grass on a field for one game that costs you about $1 million? They’re building a new facility over there. The practice facility is going to be incredible. They already put a new scoreboard in.

They’re investing money into this team. They just want the best. They want to be the standard of what a great franchise looks like, and they are already doing that. I’ve got a lot of love for them, a lot of respect, and I was happy we got them as owners.”