Colorado football legend believes his NIL valuation would've been higher than Shedeur Sanders'

Shedeur Sanders' NIL valuation of nearly $5 million wouldn't be touched by Kordell Stewart's if the former Colorado football quarterback was playing during a time he can cash out on his name, image, and likeness; this, at least, according to Stewart.

"Every time something good happens, NIL money goes up," Stewart prefaced before saying, "So, in that moment, (The Miracle at Michigan) I probably would've had my peak. I may have had about $6 million maybe at that time. I might have flattened out until we played Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. So, I probably could've walked away with a potential number like eight figures. I think I would've gotten like $10 million."

Though it may seem like Stewart has sour grapes by even mentioning what he would've been hypothetically worth from an NIL standpoint, the Louisiana native is actually a strong proponent of the current setup.

Colorado football legend Kordell Stewart praised NIL

Stewart went into detail about his support for the NCAA's current NIL system -- one that Congress is looking to impose sanctions on after it has spiraled out of control somewhat with unpaid obligations and a pay-for-play arrangement not dissimilar to pro sports free agency -- back in April.

“It’s great that guys can get paid now,” Stewart said (h/t BuffZone). “If you’re giving a boat load of money to institutions, but these kids only get stipend checks for a certain amount of money based on what the community says they can afford to have. They’ve got to pay the rent and so forth, they’re living off campus, even to just having money in their pockets. These are some of the indirect things that we may have spoken about back then, but we made it work because we worked in the summertime and we stayed here. Things like that. We just lived together and made it work.

“Now that you see it happen, the transfer portal, it’s great for the game. It gives these kids opportunities to really enjoy it and not feel so controlled with how they live their lives. They leave home in certain situations and certain circumstances — good, bad or indifferent — to come here to be in school away from where you live and come from to get paid to (play) the game? Especially they’ve got kids getting NILs in high school. Are you kidding me? I’m jealous."

Colorado football isn't an ATM, but Stewart, like Shedeur and Travis Hunter do now, would've made it one according to the former Buffs QB.