Sonic features Ryan Wingo, Colin Simmons, Marcel Reed in 'Terry Crews School of Acting for Athletes' ad

Texas and Texas A&M don’t collaborate on much. However, several players for the Longhorns and Aggies were featured together today in an advertisement for Sonic, alongside Terry Crews.

Sonic released their new ad titled as ‘Terry Crews School of Acting for Athletes’ on Monday. It features five football players between the two programs with DE Colin Simmons, WR Ryan Wingo, and S Michael Taaffe representing Texas while QB Marcel Reed and RB Reuben Owens represented for A&M.

“Brands are rushing to put college athletes in their ads, but no one’s bothered teaching them how to act…Until now,” opens the commercial.

“Endorsements mean you actually have to be good on camera. That’s where I come in,” Crews jokes in the opening, preparing the athletes with vocal warmups, on vulnerability, on technique, and on emotion among other lessons, like biting perfectly into a Sonic hamburger on camera.

This is the first commercial for Sonic featuring athletes for NIL. With that, the restaurant capitalized in the state of Texas, which has the most locations of any in the United States.

As five of the better players in their respective programs, they’re each marketable when it comes to name, image, and likeness. Wingo (No. 44 – $1.5 million) and Simmons (No. 45 – $1.5 million) are each among the highest valuations in college sports in the Top-50 overall, and in the Top-30 in college football, per the NIL 100. Reed ($435K) is also valued well entering his first season as the starting quarterback in College Station.

Simmons and Wingo, a pair of former Top-40 recruits, are each entering their sophomore seasons in Austin. Simmons led their defense with nine sacks while being second or tied for second with fourteen tackles for loss and three forced fumbles, along with posting 48 total tackles, a pair of deflections, and a pick. Wingo was then one of their top receivers with 29 catches for 472 yards, fourth-most among their corps, and two touchdowns, which was tied for fifth-most. Meanwhile, Taaffe is coming into his fifth and final season at Texas after a career-best campaign at safety last fall with 78 tackles and 10 deflections, which were both second-most on the defense, with two sacks and picks apiece and a forced fumble.

Then, for A&M, Reed comes into his first full year as their starting quarterback after throwing for 1,864 yards, 15 touchdowns, and six interceptions on 61.3% completion, while also rushing for 543 yards and seven more scores. Owens, who’s then coming into his junior year, then was limited to just two games last season because of a foot injury after rushing for 385 yards and three touchdowns as a true freshman.