Luke Francis Breaks Ground with Historic First NIL Deal in American Football

First ever NIL Deal with a UK Athlete for American Football

Luke Francis has signed the first ever NIL Deal for a UK Athlete for American Football. This deal came through due to the efforts of Next Play Nation and Coach Tony of Terror in the Trenches. The full transcript is below!

Mario:

Welcome to a special edition interview brought to you by Football Nation. Today we're making history with Luke Francis. At just 18 years old, Luke Francis has become the first UK born athlete to sign an NIL deal in American football. And he didn't do it from a college campus or an SEC locker room. He did it from the NFL Academy in Lowber, England. Luke, thank you for joining us.

Luke:

Thank you so much for having me.

Mario:

Luke, when you found out that you had made NIL history, what was going through your mind?

Luke:

Personally, I felt relieved. I felt quite well or quite pleased that I've been able to make history, been able to pave a way for many others to follow suit in my footsteps and to go above and beyond for what I've done. But personally, I was smiling from ear to ear truly.

Mario:

So, do do you feel pressure being the first or is it just mostly excitement right now?

Luke:

Mostly excitement right now. Not really much pressure. I don't personally I don't feel pressure in situations like this. I just feel quite relieved, quite strong minded, quite empowered because I know that I can do better. I could go further places. I can lead the way into a whole new generation. 

Mario:

I know you've worked with coach Tony Charles. I've also worked with coach Tony as well. So, Terror in the Trenches, I see you wearing the jersey right there. I see you wearing the shirt. Now, Coach Tony isn't just the founder of Terror in the Trenches. He's also the director of international operations for the US Army All-American Bowl and trainer for multiple NFL athletes. So, what was working with him like for you? I've worked with him personally. What was your experience like?

Luke:

Wow. We were only together for around 3 to 4 days. And when I tell you my eyes were opened. I went through a lot. All very positive things. I was able to get one-on-one training with him. One of my first times actually having intense training in a one-on-one setting. And I enjoyed myself so much. Despite being pushed to my limits, despite nearly wanting to throw up and being exhausted, I pushed through solely because I enjoyed it. solely because I enjoyed the hustle. I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed being able to push myself to my limits day in day out. Also, being able to learn from him was a very humbling and good experience because prior to that meeting, I didn't realize how much there was towards football and how much towards your body you needed to be focusing on. So, Coach Tony was able to teach me and guide me through that. Gave me some examples like red light therapy, being able to go into a cryo chamber just to calm my body down and make sure that I'm all prepared for the next day of training. So, it was a very enjoyable experience, a very big, very big lessons learned and yeah, it was an amazing an amazing experience.

Mario:

Thanks to a partnership structured by Next Play Nation, a nonprofit organization that helps elevate athletes in sports around the world, Luke has signed with Tea Voila, an eco-conscious tea brand committed to quality and sustainability. Talk to me, tell me, how did the Tea Voila piece come together? Um, how did you get in contact with Next Play Nation? How did that all come to be together? How was that merger made?

Luke:

So, there's actually quite a funny story behind that. The whole idea of my partnership with Tea Voila was solely because one night when I was coming back up from my hometown London to LRA where the NFL academy is based. I had a pit stop and it was quite cold and I told my mother, "Yes, it's quite cold outside and I really do wish I was inside and so on and so forth." But whilst I was on the phone with my mom, my mom made a a small joke saying, "Oh, why don't you just go get some tea? You are British after all." And we started laughing about that. And my mom, she's h she's there's too many good things I can say about her mom. But her brain started working and she must have thought, "Hold on, we're British. All we care about is tea and I'm going to be moving to the US. So what if we decided to make a plan or start working with a tea company just to show hey we love tea we could help you out in certain aspects as so you could help us out and my mom went to coach Tony Coach Tony says or said great idea I'll get I'll get on to that next nations came into into the frey and they helped organize everything between us and tala and after I heard about it. I didn't hear about it for a couple days after, but my mom brought it up saying, "Hey, Luke, do you remember the joke?" I said, and I said, "Yeah." And she explained to me how everything was going down, and it was funny coincidence, but it was it was a a blessing in disguise, truly. So, yeah.

Mario:

What is something that would surprise your fans about you that nobody knows?

Luke:

Huh, that's actually a very good question. I'm a very open book. A lot of people know basically everything about me, but um yeah, I don't think that there's anything that would be surprising for uh people that are looking at me.

Mario:

There's actually one that I might have up my sleeve. I heard that as a kid you liked to dance. Is that still a thing for you?

Luke:

No, no, no. That was when I was a kid that staying when I'm a kid. I do not have any rhythm whatsoever. I do enjoy music, but I'm not able to dance. I'm so sorry 

Mario:

No, no need to apologize. Ladies and gentlemen, Luke Francis, thank you so much for joining us and we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.