South Carolina QB Colten Gauthier donating NIL jersey profits to Make-A-Wish
Colten Gauthier had the idea dawn on him after appearing on a podcast with a former high school classmate.
The South Carolina quarterback and Hebron Christian Academy product was on the show next to someone who lives with cerebral palsy and was a Make-A-Wish kid. There was something Gauthier could do to give back — use his NIL platform to help others.
The redshirt freshman has now put his plan into action. Gauthier announced he will donate the revenue made from his South Carolina replica jersey sales to Make-A-Wish. It’s the latest example of college athletes using their newfound NIL rights to give back to their college communities.
“I’ve always been a big believer that everyone has a responsibility to do good,” Gauthier said in a statement. “If you have a platform like we have as college football players, you can do that. It doesn’t matter if you are a household name in the SEC, or whether you’re starting or second string, third string, or a walk-on. I wanted to do something to give back.”
Although he has only thrown one pass in his South Carolina career, he’s not going to pass up the opportunity to use the SEC platform. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1980. The charity works to fulfill the wishes of children with critical illness between the ages of 2½ and 18 years old.
Gauthier is starting with the small goal of trying to raise $1,000 from his jersey sales. Fanatics’ deal with OneTeam Partners calls for athletes to make roughly $4. And if fans do not want a jersey, Gauthier has opened up a Make-A-Wish drive where Gamecocks fans can donate.
He also wants fans to know he hopes to spend time with Make-A-Wish kids if possible.
“That’s part of the goal,” Gauthier said. “If there is a Make-A-Wish kid or anyone going through a tough time that are big South Carolina fans or college football fans in general, and I can meet them, I’ll always take time out of my schedule and go to give them a little help or something to hold on to.
“I remember being a little kid and thinking that those players on the field are Super Men. Football players were my superheroes growing up. I understand the power and honor that comes with being a college football player, so you have to give back and use this platform in a positive way.”
Gauthier also is not worried about losing out on making some cash off his jersey sales.
“It’s not about the money to me. I have a small goal to raise one thousand dollars, but hopefully, the whole idea of it will run over that amount,” Gauthier said. “To me, this is just an easy way to give back and show people what I am about.
Colten Gauthier hoping to spark trend
A former three-star recruit, the South Carolina quarterback is aware of the limits he has. He has yet to make a start in his young career. And his social media platform is not as big as his teammate’s Spencer Rattler, for example.
Seeing more athletes across college football direct jersey sales to a nonprofit would be a plus. He’s not the first to use NIL for that reason, though. LSU baseball star Tommy White recently announced he’s donating funds to Baton Rouge charities. Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum donated $30,000 to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital last December, too.
Colten Gauthier hopes his move sparks more athletes to follow.
“I hope so!” he said. “The more people we have doing this, the better. They’re bringing more attention to the cause, so I hope there will be more people that do this. I’m sure there are already people out there doing some variation of this, but as I said, the more the better.”