Part of what made college football special for so many fans for so many years is that once a player was a Florida Gator, that was it; they were a Gator for life. There were rare instances where a player might transfer, but part of the charm was watching a player come in as a true freshman and seeing them morph into a beast by their senior year.
College was also able to distinguish itself from the NFL because you never had the awkwardness of watching one of your star players wind up on a chief rival.
In 2026, rivalries still exist, but they are not as sacred as they once were in the eyes of the players. And the fact that DJ Lagway even took a visit to FSU is a reminder that players in the modern era are nothing more than mercenaries from year to year.
DJ Lagway to visit FSU
Whether or not one thinks Lagway was a good QB in 2025, he was the face of the Gators for the past year. He was in a literal Gatorade commercial, the drink that FSU refuses to have on its campus in lieu of battery acid, I mean Powerade.
He blew out FSU twice and was part of a team that planted a flag on the soil of Doak Campbell Stadium. Even if Florida might not be the best fit for Lagway in 2026, one would think there would be at least some animosity towards FSU to make him go, “Yeah, cross that one off the list.”
But this is college football in 2026, where fans are asked to donate hordes of money towards players like Lagway, only to watch them walk out the door and entertain the thought of playing ball with your main rival just down the road.
He obviously wouldn’t be the first, as Trevor Etienne kicked that door down when he went to Georgia. And given the current structure of the transfer portal and of NIL, there is next to zero chance that he will be the last.
When Billy Napier was fired, Billy Gonzales tried to hype up the idea of playing for the logo and caring about the brand itself.
Until proven otherwise, though, the system is creating mercenaries where the logo has diminished value with each passing day.