Ty Simpson Chose Legacy Over Millions - And NFL Teams Are Taking Notice
In a college football era defined by the transfer portal and eye-popping NIL deals, Ty Simpson is going against the grain - and doing it with conviction.
The former Alabama quarterback officially declared for the NFL Draft on January 7, entering as the No. 3 quarterback on most boards. Since then, he’s climbed to No. 2 following Oregon’s Dante Moore deciding to return for another year. But what’s turning heads isn’t just Simpson’s draft stock - it’s the road he didn’t take to get here.
Simpson had options. Big ones.
According to his father, schools like Miami, Tennessee, and Oregon (prior to Moore’s return) were more than interested in luring him through the portal. The offers?
Reportedly between $4 million and $6.5 million. That’s not just life-changing money - that’s NFL-caliber money, especially for a player who might not hear his name called in the top 10.
And yet, Simpson never entered the portal. Never even entertained it.
Why? Because for him, it was Alabama or nothing.
“The last thing I wanted to do was tarnish my legacy and go somewhere else where I didn't go out of high school, and I didn't want to play,” Simpson told AL.com. “Hopefully, in the draft, whenever my name gets written on a card, they write the University of Alabama on there. It's going to give me great pride.”
That’s not just lip service. That’s a quarterback who passed on millions to stay loyal to the program he committed to out of high school - and to the identity he built there. In a sport where players now often change teams as frequently as they change cleats, Simpson’s decision stands out as something rare: a bet on legacy over leverage.
Let’s be clear - Simpson’s draft projection is still a bit of a question mark. He’s expected to go somewhere in the mid-to-late first round, but in a quarterback class that’s considered thin, nothing is guaranteed.
That’s what makes his decision even more noteworthy. He could’ve taken the money, played another year at a high-profile program, and potentially boosted his stock even further.
Instead, he stayed the course.
From a scouting perspective, that kind of loyalty and self-belief matters. NFL teams put a premium on a player’s “makeup” - their leadership, maturity, and how they handle adversity. Simpson just passed a major character test without even stepping on the field.
Does that mean he’s a surefire NFL star? Not necessarily.
His on-field upside is still being debated in draft rooms. But what’s not up for debate is how he handled his final college decision.
He didn’t chase a payday. He didn’t jump ship for a flashier opportunity.
He chose to wear the Crimson Tide jersey until the end - and to have that school announced on draft night.
That kind of decision resonates - not just with NFL front offices, but with fans who’ve grown weary of the revolving door the portal era has become. For Alabama fans, Simpson’s choice cements his place in the program’s culture. And for NFL teams, it’s another data point in a profile that’s becoming harder to ignore.
Ty Simpson didn’t just bet on himself. He bet on the value of loyalty in a sport that often forgets it. And come draft night, that might just be the edge that sets him apart.