{"id":889118,"date":"2026-05-12T09:57:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/889118\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:57:22","slug":"donald-trump-takes-another-shot-at-nil-while-celebrating-indiana-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/889118\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump takes another shot at NIL while celebrating Indiana football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump takes another shot at NIL while celebrating Indiana football<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Indiana Hoosiers traded the practice field for the South Lawn on Monday as they celebrated their historic NCAA title at the White House<\/a>. While the focus was on the hardware, Donald Trump<\/a> couldn\u2019t help but chime in on the most controversial topic in college sports today: NIL.<\/p>\n

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During the ceremony, head coach Curt Cignetti, who has quickly become the king of the one-liner<\/a>, cracked a joke that set the tone for the afternoon. Cignetti told the president he\u2019d let him \u201ckeep the [National Championship] trophy for an NIL contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump didn\u2019t hesitate to lean into the bit. \u201cI\u2019ll do that for NIL,\u201d he replied with a grin. However, the humor quickly turned into a critique of the current collegiate landscape. \u201cBoy, did the courts screw that up,\u201d Trump added, referencing the legal rulings that have fundamentally overhauled how NCAA student-athletes receive compensation.<\/p>\n

The commentary comes at a time when the \u201cpay-to-play\u201d model is under a massive microscope, especially following the College Sports Commission\u2019s recent legal victory<\/a> regarding \u201cwarehoused\u201d NIL deals. But for the Hoosiers, the day was a well-earned victory lap for a season that defied every expectation.<\/p>\n

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The path to Washington, D.C. was paved by a gritty 27-21 victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the title game. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza led the charge, finishing 16-of-26 for 186 yards. While his arm kept the chains moving, Mendoza\u2019s legs provided the exclamation point. His 12-yard rushing touchdown gave Indiana the cushion they needed to cap off a perfect 16-0 season, a feat<\/a> Cignetti called the \u201cgreatest record in college football history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cignetti has transformed a program<\/a> that was once a Big Ten afterthought into the gold standard of the sport. With a national title in the bag and a visit with the president complete, Indiana has officially shed the \u201cbasketball school\u201d label.<\/p>\n

Related: Donald Trump\u2019s candid reaction to Indiana Football HC Curt Cignetti\u2019s NIL joke<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: 2026 Fall HBCU Homecoming Schedule: Full List<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump takes another shot at NIL while celebrating Indiana football appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[16784,78,7,4725,9737,8264,1897],"class_list":["post-889118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-curt-cignetti","tag-donald-trump","tag-football","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-mandatory-credit","tag-national-championship","tag-white-house"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116561015179922291","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}