Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Zach Calzada flashed a few handfuls of $100 bills on a video posted to social media, and the general response -- amid his benching for Cutter Boley and the offense excelling without him -- was backlash-filled.
FOX Sports' Aaron Torres had one of the most notable takedowns of the former TAMU Aggie, Auburn Tiger, and Incarnate Word Cardinal out of Sugar Hill, Georgia, calling the video "one of the most embarrassing videos" he'd ever seen.
"Imagine being 25 (this week), getting run out of two SEC programs, getting a third chance, being benched for a redshirt freshman, seeing the offense take off... then flexing NIL money like youre a rapper in a music video," Torres wrote.
"Low key one of the most embarrassing videos I've ever seen."
Of course, there were more visceral reactions out there that somehow showed less mercy. But Torres summed it up well. Two different SEC schools had no use for him.
At Auburn, the Bryan Harsin dysfunction vortex ended his tenure before it truly started. Austin Davis, the planned offensive coordinator and QB coach who brought Calzada into the fold, left only a few weeks after being hired. Calzada never stuck after that, with TJ Finley, Robby Ashford, and Holden Geriner getting the looks at the 2022 A-Day Spring Game and during the season. Calzada was reportedly "injured," but his comments since leaving indicate something else was happening behind the scenes instead/as well.
In College Station, Haynes King was the planned starter over Calzada. Seeing King's career turned out with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Jimbo Fisher was definitely onto something.
Ultimately, Calzada was dealt a bad hand, but he ended up making good money while barely ever having to do much to earn it. The 2021 season, and an upset of the Alabama Crimson Tide that year, made him a rich man.
And now he's overplaying his had by showing that. On camera. For no reason.