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Former Minnesota, NFL receiver discusses alma mater's challenges in new NIL era amid homecoming weekend
Eric Decker will be back in Minneapolis on Saturday night for his Minnesota Golden Gophers' homecoming game, reliving the glory days.The former NFL receiver starred for Minnesota, playing three years at the Metrodome before spending his senior season at the outdoor Huntington Bank Stadium."Just to be around that energy, reliving the memories, I love P.J. [Fleck], he's done a great job with the program and has gotten the best out of his guys. Fun to be back, especially in the fall, that's the best time of year anywhere. But football season on campus, a lot of great memories I've built through my career now," Decker said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMDecker will be in the building on behalf of Duke Cannon, which will have its "Big A-- Keg of Soap" to keep fans clean throughout the long day ahead of the 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff."All the fans are welcome to come, take a little shower, get a little refresh after a long day of tailgating and smell fresh walking into the stadium" Decker said. "The keg is relative to the college lifestyle, so its a fun activation, completely different than anything Ive seen. Really excited for them to do it on campus during homecoming."It's been well over a decade since Decker donned the gold and maroon, and he's seen the change in college athletics from the outside.SISTER JEAN, LOYOLA CHICAGO'S BELOVED BASKETBALL CHAPLAIN AND NCAA SENSATION, DIES AT 106Decker knows that Minnesota does not have the same pull as the school's longtime Big Ten rivals like Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State or even the new ones like Oregon, Washington and USC."We do get good athletes in, the problem is keeping them," Decker said.So, how do they do that? It's simple."I also look at the opportunity, and this is a challenge: Minneapolis has the most Fortune 500 companies in the area. How we cant align to create a fund where Ohio State gets $25 million outside of their allotment that the Big Ten gives each team, we should be doing that in order to, in a sense, buy wins," Decker said. "We just dont have that. Thats an opportunity I know P.J. knows about, but the philosophy with the school and their vision, these corporations, theres gotta be kind of marriage or merging of it. I hope we can bring some big players in, because financially, we can."Overall, I dont know if theres much to be done if its not financially rewarding."Minnesota is aiming for its fourth win on Saturday against Purdue.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X,and subscribe tothe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
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