The idea that college athletes are capitalizing on the new NIL (Name Image and Likeness) deals to receive some sort of remuneration for their talents is still a relatively a new idea.
But high school athletes? It’s very rare.
However, one of the first high school athletes to secure an NIL deal just happens to hail from Kearny.
Jimmy Mullen, who won the NJSIAA heavyweight wrestling championship as a freshman two years ago while competing for St. Joseph Regional of Montvale), has signed an endorsement deal with the healthy food organization called EatCleanBro.com.
The company reached out to Mullen to see if he would be willing to put his name, image and likeness to EatCleanBro.
“We went back and forth,” said Mullen, who is in the middle of his wrestling season at St. Joseph after a great football campaign. “I contacted them through Instagram and they were interested. We were able to get stuff going the right way.”
Mullen said that he noticed the EatCleanBro billboards all around northern New Jersey and it piqued his interest.
EatCleanBro has a host of fresh, healthy and delicious protein enriched meals that helps the prospective athlete eat properly and stay away from eating junk food.
Mullen is the first high school athlete to join forces with EatCleanBro.com and the first New Jersey high school athlete to receive an NIL deal.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about EatCleanBro,” Mullen said. “I think it’s perfect for me. After I did, there have been a group of other wrestlers who have done it. It’s been really good. I never thought that something like this could happen while I’m still in high school. I didn’t even know I was the first one from New Jersey.”
If interested, use Jimmy’s special code mullen23 if signing up with EatCleanBro in order to get the friends and family discount.
“Every time someone uses my code, the site tells me so,” said Mullen, who has been an NIL-signed high school athlete since Jan. 4. “It’s actually doing pretty well. I have received some positive feedback from it. Once it got out there, it’s really taken off.”
Mullen has been a trailblazer in everything he does, including becoming the first freshman heavyweight in New Jersey wrestling history to win a state championship like he won in 2020. But this move is certainly borderline earth shattering.
It should be interesting to see how well this move is perceived throughout the high school ranks and how many other high school athletes follow suit.
CAPTION
Kearny native Jimmy Mullen, the standout football player and wrestler for St. Joseph Regional of Montvale, has signed an NIL deal with EatCleanBro.com. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Mullen’s Facebook page.
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”