Penn State’s Nick Dawkins Signs NIL Deal with WWE

Penn State’s Nick Dawkins Signs NIL Deal with WWE

Penn State’s Nick Dawkins Signs NIL Deal with WWE

Penn State's Nick Dawkins Signs NIL Deal with WWE

Penn State’s Nick Dawkins Signs NIL Deal with WWE

Nick Dawkins, a Penn State offensive lineman whose father Darryl was an NBA star, could pursue a career as a WWE wrestler after football. Dawkins is one of 15 college wrestlers to sign with WWE’s “Next In Line” show, which includes Penn State wrestler Greg Kerkvliet.

The NIL show offers sponsorship opportunities and a potential direction for professional wrestling. Dawkins is a member of WWE’s third “Next In Line” class, which has recruited 46 athletes since 2021.

The program, according to WWE, serves to recruit and develop potential future Superstars and further enhances WWE’s talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic backgrounds. Athletes who finish the NIL program may be offered a contract by WWE. Gable Steveson, the former NCAA wrestling champion who signed the first “Next In Line” contract, is one of those who have.

Dawkins (6-4, 315 pounds) just finished his third season at Penn State, despite missing much of it due to injury.

As the son of late NBA great Darryl Dawkins, the guard/center has a big personality and a proud legacy. Dawkins changed his uniform number to 53 last season, the same number his father wore during his NBA career.

Nick had always wanted to wear No. 53. He did so during his junior year at Parkland High School near Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Darryl Dawkins had relocated after becoming the coach of a local United States Basketball League team. But, at Parkland, Nick outgrew the jersey and had to wait for another chance.

Penn State’s coaching staff presented him with No. 53 last spring as a reward for his efforts both on and off the field. Nick debuted it during a preseason photo shoot.”It felt good,” he said.

“It felt right.”Darryl Dawkins died in 2015, so he never got to see Nick play high school football. But Nick was always close to his father.

Nick got his first tattoos on his 17th birthday: one of his father’s signature and another of the Bible verse printed on his father’s prayer card. Darryl Dawkins “wasn’t the biggest fan of me playing football,” Nick admitted in a 2019 interview, but he always proudly watched his youth games.”It’s definitely a blessing,” Nick said of sharing a number with his father. “I never thought anyone would be asking me about that in my life.

Nick Dawkins’s Instagram and Twitter Profile

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