There’s something magical about NFL locker rooms around Thanksgiving. Crates are wrapped like Christmas morning, giant boxes piled like mini-fridges, and offensive linemen hover around them like children waiting to rip open gifts. Now, that same festive spirit is entering college football’s own locker rooms thanks to the crazy and transforming reality of NIL money.

Marcel Reed of Texas A&M, who is already one of NIL’s fastest-rising talents, just took up the helm. Reed enters the Aggies’ locker room smiling, with GLD chain boxes with chains and ATM pendants in hand, and smacks his O-line with a line right out of an NFL Christmas special in a recent X post. “I got a little gift for y’all boys… take care of me week-in and week-out, I want to pay it back to y’all,” he said.

QB1 showing love to the best of the best in the trenches🧊#MarcelMode | @portersBCS pic.twitter.com/zQCjyrjCmx

— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 20, 2025

College football has changed so fast that it’s easy to forget how surreal this all is. Nothing has changed the sport more than NIL, including conference chaos, extended playoffs, and coaching carousel craziness. Reed, a first-year starter, earns around $2.2 million owing to clothing lines, national advertisements, and business collaborations. Marcel Reed‘s actions were taken directly from the NFL playbook, as that is where the tradition started.

Last year, Joe Burrow gave each lineman an authentic Japanese Katana sword. Brock Purdy dropped off Toyota trucks with the red bows for his team. Patrick Mahomes gave away Rolexes, Louis Vuitton products, boots, sunglasses, and Normatec recovery sleeves, all nicely packaged inside Yeti coolers. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley gave personalized golf carts, Daniel Jones brought limited-edition tequila bottles, and Russell Wilson once gave his Steelers lineman expensive bags and $10,000 Airbnb gift cards. The presents are heartfelt and crazy, but the sentiment remains the same.

And while Reed’s chains sparkled, the meaning hit harder: this is a guy who understands the job, the grind, and the people who make his highlights possible. Don’t be amazed if Reed’s small Thanksgiving gesture becomes a standard for college quarterbacks worldwide, as NIL money continues to rise.

Marcel Reed breaks the internet with O-Line gifts

Almost as quickly as Reed’s chains lit up the locker room, the fan response lit up the internet. “Not sure what YOUR Heisman is doing today, but this is what MY Heisman is doing” was Josh Pate’s first shot. Aggie fans lost it on that sentence alone. It was pure validation. People stopped referring to him as a face of the sport as soon as he gave those presents.

Then came fans who didn’t even attempt to hide their awe. “You can spend my tuition on this if you want, he is baller,” said one Aggie fan, making the most outrageous college football statement ever. And “Now THIS is what NIL was supposed to be all about 😮‍💨” is the ultimate nine-word description of the whole NIL period. “Hey @HeismanTrophy Add this to the list of reasons why I want to vote for Marcel Reed. #MarcelMode,” one fan said, explicitly tagging the trophy. Reed currently has the 4th-best odds to win the honor.

Former quarterbacks and analysts couldn’t help themselves. “Marcel Reed taking care of his Big OL is the best thing you’ll see today,” said Chase Daniel, jumping in with a statement that might have served as an offensive lineman’s hallmark card. “Can’t wait to be on the call Saturday in College Station,” he said, adding that this trend is officially finding its way into college football.