Ryan Knudson

But for some families, the risk that their kid gets kicked off the team is worth taking.

The money is just too good.

As Philip Bell's high school career was kicking off, his mother, Samantha Barnes, was dealing with money issues.

She'd recently married a man who, according to court records, had no full-time job, unpaid child support bills, and depended on her for living expenses.

So when Bell got an offer to a school in L.A., Barnes took it.

Bell and his mother were also put up in a mansion that was formerly occupied by the rapper Soulja Boy.

They got help on the lease from a parent whose son was the quarterback on Bell's team.

According to Harriet's reporting, Barnes started telling her friends, quote, "'My son is going to be a millionaire.'"

In the past, players couldn't become millionaires unless they made it to the NFL.

But thanks to name, image, and likeness deals that are now legal in college and allow players to sign endorsement deals, players can become millionaires much sooner.

And that money also flows to the people around the player, their families, and their agents.

Middle school practice?

It's sort of like all the money...

is just seeping down lower and lower.

Like, college resisted it for a long time, but now it's there with these NIL deals.

And now it's just seeping even further, one layer down to high schools.

By the end of Belle's sophomore year, his mother didn't appear to be satisfied with the amount of money her son was making.

And she started shopping Belle around to different schools to see if she could get a better offer.

Eventually, Bell's mother crossed paths with someone named Brett Stey, who's known around the LA football scene as the Money Man.

According to Stey, Bell's mother told a coach that she wanted a house and an allowance of $72,000 a year, which was too much even for Money Man.