Introducing Collegeville Cream Ale
When Fulton founders Ryan Petz and Jim Diley played football at Saint John’s University, college athletics looked a little different. There were no NIL collectives, no transfer-portal announcements, no personal brands to manage between practice and class. They were just Johnnies. And pretty good ones, at that.
Before graduating in 2005, they were members of the Johnnie football program, led by Coach John Gagliardi, that won the Division III national championship. They played at a time when the compact between college and athlete was relatively straightforward: the school gave you an education and a chance to play a little longer; you gave it an enormous amount of your time and your body and, with any luck, a few wins on Saturdays.
For anyone who played college sports around the turn of the century, NIL might as well have stood for Nobody Is Looking. There were no followers to cultivate, which meant nobody was particularly interested in what you ate for breakfast, what shoes you wore, or what local business you might be persuaded to endorse.
Which got us thinking: What would Ryan and Jim’s NIL deals have looked like in 2005?
Maybe Tenvoorde Ford gives Ryan a Ford Explorer for the season. He is absolutely not allowed to keep it after graduation. Then he picks up a Coborn’s deal worth $100 a month, which, at age 21, he spends in a single visit on beef sticks. Perhaps Jim’s face starts showing up on Gary’s Pizza boxes. Or Hennen’s Furniture furnishes his off-campus house with a brand-new futon, instantly making it the nicest piece of furniture anyone he knows owns.
Of course, knowing them, they probably would’ve saved an irritatingly responsible percentage for law school and business school. Because in their era, the value of being a student-athlete wasn’t measured in what you could earn from it. You played. You studied. You graduated. Unless the pros came calling, you figured out what came next.
For Ryan and Jim, what came next eventually included founding Fulton Brewing, which brings us, somewhat improbably, to Collegeville Cream Ale. Twenty percent of the beer’s revenue goes directly to supporting current student-athletes through Johnnie Athletes NIL. Johnnie alumni have never needed much convincing to support their own - this just happens to be a particularly easy way to do it.
Find this limited release 16oz/4pk wherever you buy beer in Stearns County.
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Introducing Collegeville Cream Ale
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When Fulton founders Ryan Petz and Jim Diley played football at Saint John’s University, college athletics looked a little different. There were no NIL collectives, no transfer-portal announcements, no personal brands to manage between practice and class. They were just Johnnies. And pretty good ones, at that.
Before graduating in 2005, they were members of the Johnnie football program, led by Coach John Gagliardi, that won the Division III national championship. They played at a time when the compact between college and athlete was relatively straightforward: the school gave you an education and a chance to play a little longer; you gave it an enormous amount of your time and your body and, with any luck, a few wins on Saturdays.
For anyone who played college sports around the turn of the century, NIL might as well have stood for Nobody Is Looking. There were no followers to cultivate, which meant nobody was particularly interested in what you ate for breakfast, what shoes you wore, or what local business you might be persuaded to endorse.
Which got us thinking: What would Ryan and Jim’s NIL deals have looked like in 2005?
Maybe Tenvoorde Ford gives Ryan a Ford Explorer for the season. He is absolutely not allowed to keep it after graduation. Then he picks up a Coborn’s deal worth $100 a month, which, at age 21, he spends in a single visit on beef sticks. Perhaps Jim’s face starts showing up on Gary’s Pizza boxes. Or Hennen’s Furniture furnishes his off-campus house with a brand-new futon, instantly making it the nicest piece of furniture anyone he knows owns.
Of course, knowing them, they probably would’ve saved an irritatingly responsible percentage for law school and business school. Because in their era, the value of being a student-athlete wasn’t measured in what you could earn from it. You played. You studied. You graduated. Unless the pros came calling, you figured out what came next.
For Ryan and Jim, what came next eventually included founding Fulton Brewing, which brings us, somewhat improbably, to Collegeville Cream Ale. Twenty percent of the beer’s revenue goes directly to supporting current student-athletes through Johnnie Athletes NIL. Johnnie alumni have never needed much convincing to support their own - this just happens to be a particularly easy way to do it.
Find this limited release 16oz/4pk wherever you buy beer in Stearns County.