College football fans duped by viral fake post claiming Nick Saban paid Trent Richardson at Alabama

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College football fans duped by viral fake post claiming Nick Saban paid Trent Richardson at Alabama originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

College football fans were briefly fooled this week by a viral social media post falsely attributed to former Alabama running back Trent Richardson. He appeared to criticize comments made by legendary coach Nick Saban about the modern NIL landscape. However, the post was fake.

The quote that was thought to be from Richardson circulated widely on X, appeared to claim Alabama had secretly paid him during his recruitment.

“Honestly, I don’t get why he’s even commenting on it, they gave me and my family $75,000 just to commit, plus $10,000 a month to stay at Alabama,” the post read.

The message from parody account No3 sports quickly gained traction among fans and commentators, but it did not originate from Richardson. Many users initially mistook for a legitimate source. Several high-profile figures amplified the post before realizing it was fabricated, including former NFL star LeSean McCoy and political candidate Luther Campbell.

Thank you Trent Richardson for exposing the truth. When Nick Saban and the SEC good-old-boys talk about “fixing” NIL, what they really mean is going back to the days when players allegedly got paid quietly and the NCAA was used to snitch on anyone outside their circle. The old… https://t.co/yZ0Xo2oVce

— Luther Luke Campbell (@unclelukereal1) March 8, 2026

Campbell, who is running for Congress in Florida’s 20th district, reacted strongly to the post. “Thank you Trent Richardson for exposing the truth,” Campbell wrote. “When Nick Saban and the SEC good-old-boys talk about ‘fixing’ NIL, what they really mean is going back to the days when players allegedly got paid quietly.”

More: Ohio State's Ryan Day faces backlash after NFL Combine

The confusion stems from Saban’s recent remarks during a college sports discussion at the White House alongside Donald Trump, where he criticized the current NIL environment and called for a structured revenue-sharing model.

Saban argued the current system encourages athletes to prioritize short-term earnings over long-term development, saying the focus has shifted from building value for the future to chasing the biggest payday available.

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