In NIL Deal, Horns with Heart Announces $800,000 Sponsorship for Texas Longhorn Offensive Line
Horns with Heart, a new non-profit entity, has announced their 2022 sponsorship to extend an offer to every University of Texas offensive lineman totaling $50,000.00 in annual financing per player. The program, dubbed The Pancake Factory, will be the first of its kind to support a football position group to participate in charitable endeavors that impact both the University of Texas as well as the community at large.
Horns with Heart was formed specifically to create an avenue by which University of Texas student-athletes “can be empowered to make positive impacts on their communities and charities close to their hearts while utilizing their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).” The new Texas NIL law which went into effect on July 1, 2021 changes an athlete’s ability to use their NIL. This has created a unique opportunity for a charitable program to be created that will benefit players, charitable causes, and the University of Texas all collaboratively, and Horns with Heart was created with exactly that purpose in mind.
“The University of Texas, and its alumni base, has long been at the vanguard of innovation and academic excellence, as well as community building, and Horns with Heart aims to continue that tradition of excellence and lead the way into the world of charitable player support,” according to a press release. “The Pancake Factory program is the first initiative for Horns with Heart, but the aim is to target many more player-focused charitable programs in the weeks and months to come for other football position groups and across the wide array of different University of Texas athletic programs. The goal is to make these programs sustainably funded on a yearly basis into perpetuity.”
The Pancake Factory program specifically will be made available to every eligible scholarship offensive lineman at the University of Texas starting on August 1st, 2022. The name Pancake Factory comes from a “pancake block” which is used to describe a block by an offensive lineman that leaves a defensive player flat on his back. Each member of the offensive line position group, as long as they remain eligible, will receive payments totaling $50,000 for their participation in the Pancake Factory initiative. The student athletes will be compensated for using their NIL to make charitable appearances and bring awareness to worthy causes that impact their local communities.