- Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy has signed an NIL deal with Q-Collar, the brain protection equipment brand, ahead of his junior season with the Rebels.
- Lacy rushed for 1,567 yards and an SEC-best 24 touchdowns in 2025, helping Ole Miss advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
- As part of the deal, Lacy will wear the Q-Collar on the field, a device designed to help protect the brain from the effects of repeated head impacts, and holds a $1 million On3 NIL Valuation.
- Lacy is also featured alongside Oregon QB Dante Moore and Miami WR Malachi Toney on the EA Sports College Football 27 Standard Edition cover, dropping July 9, 2026.
Kewan Lacy is making big moves off the field to match his historic production on it. The Ole Miss running back has officially signed an NIL deal with Q-Collar, the brain-safety brand developed by Q30 Innovations, announced June 24, 2026.
Lacy said his mother first noticed other players wearing the Q-Collar, which led the two to research the product together. “Once we looked into it, the benefits of added protection became clear,” he said in a statement. “It gives me added confidence every time I step on the field.”
Q30 Innovations CEO and Co-Founder Tom Hoey called Lacy a natural fit: “Players of his caliber carry enormous influence both among their peers and across every level of the game, and when an athlete of his stature chooses to prioritize brain safety, it sends a powerful message.”
The deal caps a breakout stretch for Lacy, who transferred from Missouri to Ole Miss in 2025. He ran for an SEC-best 24 touchdowns last season, earned First-Team All-American honors, and was the first Doak Walker Award finalist in Ole Miss history.
He held on to his spot in Oxford after Ole Miss offered a reported $2 million NIL commitment to keep him from following former head coach Lane Kiffin to LSU. New head coach Pete Golding gets to build around one of college football’s most dangerous backs.
On the branding front, the Q-Collar deal joins a fast-growing portfolio. Lacy recently landed a coveted spot on the Standard Edition cover of EA Sports College Football 27 alongside Oregon QB Dante Moore and Miami WR Malachi Toney.
Just as fellow NIL standout Milan Momcilovic landed his first local NIL deal with Paul Miller Ford, Lacy is building a national brand that extends well beyond the football field.
The Q-Collar, which became the first and only FDA-cleared device proven to help protect the brain from repetitive head impacts in 2021, is backed by more than 25 pre-clinical and clinical studies. Lacy joins an NFL-heavy ambassador roster that includes Sauce Gardner, Dalton Kincaid, and Byron Murphy.
The move mirrors a trend of college stars stepping into safety-focused partnerships, similar to how Dakorien Moore landed his NIL partnership with NXTRND, expanding the equipment endorsement space at the college level.
Takeaways
This deal is more than a jersey sponsor, it’s a statement. Lacy is one of the biggest names in college football right now, and aligning with a brain-safety brand signals a new level of intentionality in how top college athletes are managing their personal brands. It’s not just about sneakers and energy drinks anymore.
Q-Collar is using Lacy’s platform at exactly the right moment; he’s on a video game cover, he’s a Heisman dark horse, and he plays in a sport where brain safety conversations are unavoidable. That’s premium positioning for a product that needs credibility to grow.
Does a star running back endorsing brain-protection gear make the product more credible? Could Q-Collar’s focus on college NIL partnerships become a blueprint for other safety-equipment brands looking to build market share?
