The Nico Iamaleava drama has taken another turn as college football fans throw baseless accusations around about Iamaleava apparently wanting to sit out the College Football Playoff game against Ohio State.
I have no problem with fans hating how Iamaleava handled his departure from Tennessee. I don’t blame fans for causing an uproar because of his erroneous NIL demands, only to reportedly take a pay cut for his new team.
All of these are justified in questioning and being mad at, but to accuse him of wanting to forego the College Football Playoff is just wrong. Iamaleava made sure to shut down any of those types of accusations.
“Damn I tried to sit out and throw the playoff game too? These boys make me laugh man, ain’t no way,” Iamaleava posted to his Instagram account with a photo of him stiff arming an Ohio State defender.
Nico Iamaleava addressing the rumors on his Instagram story of him threatening to sit out in the CFB Playoffs against Ohio State 👀 pic.twitter.com/Z8YHMM641V
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) April 18, 2025
Nico Iamaleava caused unnecessary headache and drama thanks to his abrupt departure
While Iamaleava has every right to be mad about the crazy accusations of him allegedly throwing the College Football Playoff game, he can’t be mad that people went there. After all, he created this headache.
Iamaleava waited until the week the transfer portal opened to threaten to hold out and demand nearly twice as much as he made his freshman season. He could have handled this so much better, but instead, he further proved why the NIL structure that’s in place is heavily flawed.
Yet, for as much as you want to be mad at him for that, you have to take a step back and ask why a player would ever want to intentionally sit out a game like the College Football Playoff. Keep in mind, it was the first year of the expanded playoff.
On top of that, playing in the game could be key to showing just how much you're worth and even showing other schools you could be interested in transferring to. Why would he pass on all of that?
Again, Iamaleava hasn’t handled hardly anything well during the last week as his NIL situation grew to a head. But to claim he quit on Tennessee during the season is a bit too far. To say he quit on them during the offseason and spring, you’re absolutely right.