C.J. Stroud is a leading candidate to take home the 2022 Heisman Trophy as college football’s top player. The Ohio State quarterback finished fourth in last year’s voting after throwing 44 touchdowns and averaging a shade under 370 passing yards per game in his first season as a starter. Now he’s back for the No. 2 ranked Buckeyes and hoping to add an NCAA championship to his already robust draft resume.
This is an asset off the field as well. Stroud has benefitted from name, image and likeness (NIL) deals that allow him to make endorsements and turn his mastery in and out of the pocket into cash. And he’s sharing those benefits with his teammates.
game day suits courtesy of QB1 💼#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/vW7ZCOzGvt
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 1, 2022
Stroud, along with star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, is a brand ambassador for Express, the clothing company you see in malls and no where else. He used that relationship to gift every member of the roster a $500 gift card to “make sure you’re looking fly.”
That’s, of course, a symbiotic relationship between brands. Stroud gets good press. His teammates get another reason to put their bodies on the line alongside him. Express gets a big publicity boost now and then a bunch of little ones as Ohio State players hop off the team bus wearing their suits to away game through 2022 and into the future.
While most of the brand’s suits clock in around $450 before tax, thrifty teammates will be able to stack wool from a clearance section whose suit sets start at $123. That leaves room to add a solid button-down shirt, tie, socks and maybe even a tie clip/cufflink combination, depending on how committed each player is to looking like a 1970s Detroit Teamsters union rep.
Or they could roll with Stroud and Smith-Njigba’s curated line, where they can pick up Smith-Njigba’s houndstooth suit/t-shit combination for $466 or his plaid bomber jacket for $198. Either way, both sides get some press and a bunch of offensive linemen get to wear faux suede. Win/win.
