Pitt players John Petrishen, Tre Tipton use NIL to help others in need

From coast to coast, athletes are benefiting from the NCAA’s relaxed rules on the use of their name, image and likeness.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young had deals approaching $1 million before he took a snap.

Linebacker John Petrishen and wide receiver Tre Tipton watched from afar on the Pitt campus, did not begrudge anyone their good fortune – but decided to take NIL in another direction.

Another Pitt star joins the #CampusMogul squad: Welcome Johnny Petrishen!@jP5_ERA is a homegrown Pittsburgher, an anchor for Pitt's D and ACC linebacker of the week.

ALL of his proceeds will feed people who meals them in Pittsburgh. Support him below!https://t.co/Yd68Cu6Vri pic.twitter.com/fXzvWHCimi

— CampusMogul (@CampusMogul) October 5, 2021

Both seventh-year seniors, who grew up in the Alle-Kiski Valley, are helping others in unique ways that will not put a dime in either player’s pocket.

Trauma doesn’t make you a victim it makes you a warrior

I'm partnering with @SpreadshopHQ to shed light on suicide and mental health awareness! ❤️

25% of proceeds will support my organization, L.O.V.E.

Click the link in my bio to support!#spreadshopathlete #ad pic.twitter.com/GCcLjgPYFA

— Tre Tipton (@Tipton_05) October 6, 2021

Petrishen, a Lower Burrell native and Central Catholic graduate, is donating a $10 meal for every tackle he records this season for people to eat free of charge at Knead Community Café in New Kensington. He already is third on the team with 23 tackles and is one pace for about 50.

That’s a lot of cashew chicken (just one of the main entrees at volunteer-run, nonprofit restaurant on Barnes Street).

Tipton is using NIL to help raise mental health awareness and give a boost to LOVE (Living Out Victoriously Everyday), the nonprofit he founded on Pitt’s campus to help student-athletes navigate difficult circumstances.

Tipton, an Apollo-Ridge graduate, has partnered with Spreadshop, an international merchandising platform that facilitates online apparel sales. He is Spreadshop’s first NIL-sponsored athlete, and he said 25% of the sales of T-Shirts and sweatshirts will go directly toward LOVE.

NIL was designed as an effective way for athletes to build their brand.

“More importantly,” Petrishen said, “I felt like it’s a great way for me to be able to use my platform to give back.

“It didn’t sit right with me to have that clothing line for my family and friends to support and all the benefits go to me. What better way to raise money for a good cause and a community that I care about?”

Tying the meals to his tackles, he said, helps many people in need.

“Homeless people who can’t afford meals, people who have a hard time making ends meet,” he said. “They can eat for free or pay what you can. Anybody else can come in and pay more than what their bill is so someone else can eat.”

Kevin and Mary Bode founded Knead Cafe in 2017.

“We are just so grateful. It was a lovely gesture,” Mary Bode said. “It’s wonderful he’s sharing his goodwill and this gesture with us.”

She said Petrishen’s parents have been supporters of the cafe since its beginnings. Nick Chevrolet, owned by his father, John J. Petrishen, is a table sponsor.

Mary Bode said proceeds will go toward the cafe’s operations and its community outreach.

“We’re happy for his success and that he remembered us,” she said.

In conjunction with the meals, he is partnering with Campus Mogul, a company that helps athletes build their brand. Campus Mogul will market T-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with Petrishen’s brand – Johnny Football, Team JP or his replica jersey with his number 0.

“I’ll take all the proceeds from that and donate it directly to Knead Café,” said Petrishen, who has a Campusmogul.com link in his Instagram bio.

“They make the shirts. They ship them. They do everything,” said Petrishen, noting the deal does not interfere with football or his classes. “It’s a win-win for everybody. It doesn’t take any time or effort out of my day.”

Tipton’s apparel will be emblazoned with some of his favorite quotations.

“I do everything on my own,” he said. “I look at a lot of philosophy. I think a lot in depth, a lot of things I’ve thought about and wrote out in the past.”

His favorite quotation: “Adversity is a comma in the sentence of life and not a period.”

Those are certainly instructive words for Tipton, who’s had three surgeries and a collapsed lung while winning a bout with depression.

“Anything I make from Spreadshop I’m going to give back to LOVE and try to make it into something bigger than it already is,” he said. “The goal is to eventually put LOVE on a bigger scale. We have some documentation that we need done in order to make LOVE into the organization that it needs to be.

“In order for that to happen, it does take funding. The goal is to get to the point where I can actually use the funding for bigger goals and bigger ideas for LOVE.”