Jalen Milroe, Terrion Arnold taking LANK NIL brand on road for College Football Playoff

Jeremy Crabtreeby:Jeremy Crabtree12/26/23

jeremycrabtree

Full Alabama DB Terrion Arnold interview with Andy Staples | Making Coach Saban Laugh and Trash Talking with Kool-Aid McKinstry | 10.11.23

Alabama stars Jalen Milroe and Terrion Arnold are bringing the LANK brand to the College Football Playoff.

Milroe and Arnold embraced the “LANK” motto this season, which became a rallying cry for the Crimson Tide throughout the 2023 season.

“LANK” stands for “Let All Naysayers Know,” and Milroe and Arnold created it after the Crimson Tide failed to make the CFP last season. Milroe and Arnold went all in with LANK in 2023, turning the slogan into a NIL brand and wearing shirts with the catchphrase throughout the season.

Milroe and Arnold announced last week that every member of the Crimson Tide football team can profit from the LANK brand through an NIL partnership with the Yea Alabama collective and Athlete’s Thread.

Now LANK merchandise will be available through a pop-up store in Pasadena ahead of the Rose Bowl matchup against Michigan. From Dec. 30 through Jan. 2, Crimson Tide fans can snag limited-edition and fan-favorite LANK gear with the proceeds going directly to support the NIL of Crimson Tide players.

The pop-up store is open from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and will be located at 33B E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. The pop-up is situated directly below the Bad Bee shop in Old Town Pasadena.

What’s more, fans have a chance to get their hands on exclusive signed LANK merch from Milroe and Arnold.

While tickets aren’t mandatory for entry, organizers encourage all fans to RSVP to help them prepare for the ultimate LANK experience catered exclusively to Bama fans in town.

LANK motto connects Alabama players

As part of the LANK brand supporting the Crimson Tide football roster, Milroe and Arnold shared the news through a special unboxing during a team meeting while preparing for the Rose Bowl.

With the deal, every player can benefit from selling their own personalized LANK merchandise.

“This is a monumental moment for the players, brand and the entire fan base,” Athlete’s Thread – the company that helped the Crimson Tide stars produce the officially-licensed gear – said in a social media post. “The best part is this is still just the beginning.”

You can watch the unveiling below.

Milore told teammates before they opened boxes to learn about the NIL opportunity that they put in a lot of hard work, and he was proud of how they adopted the LANK motto.

“We all know what took place over the offseason. What it all took to get us to where we are at right now,” Milroe said. “And we know that we’re not a finished product. But at the end of the day, we got a motto that we hold through the offseason, and we know about LANK.

“We know what it means to us. We know what this team had to go through.”

Alabama brought together by LANK motto

Arnold then said LANK has connected the Crimson Tide squad and brought them all together.

“We still ain’t done LANK-ing,” Arnold said. “Athlete’s Thread has given ya’ll a chance, us a chance, too, to go out here and market ourselves through Yea Alabama. And in the box, there’s a card. With the card, it’s your own individualized brand and you can go out there and market yourself and you can make money off that.

“We just wanted to give you guys a chance to connect, because ultimately this wouldn’t be possible without ya’ll. We’re all in this together. We’re brothers. And I love ya’ll boys.”

The unboxing – which included custom LANK gear specific to each player’s name and number – went well received with a chorus of hoots and hollers.

Among the 30-plus pieces of clothing available from LANK are T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and shorts. Athlete’s Thread did not provide specifics but said “a significant portion of the commissions” would go to the players.

Where did LANK come from?

Arnold recently explained to On3 how the LANK motto was formulated.

“Obviously Bryce [Young] was the quarterback then,” Arnold recently told On3’s Andy Staples. “And Bryce, very, very humble. Nonchalant and just as far, never too high, never too low. J-Mil, is the total opposite. J-Mil, in the locker room, is the center of attention in there. In player meetings, he’s going to get up, he gone talk, say what’s on his mind.

“So just as far that being, we came up with ‘LANK.’ He was like, ‘Man we gotta really go out here and let these naysayers know because they doubting us.’”