Preston Norwood who was his team captain in high school in Dacula, Georgia — where he played on three regional championship teams, made the Academic All-State list, and was a National Honor Society Member — has been selected by Pond Lehocky Giordano as the next student athlete for endorsement under the NCAA’s new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program.
NIL is a change to a longstanding NCAA prohibition against student athletes receiving economic benefits other than scholarships from their role in college sports. That ban was seen as unfair given the tremendous financial interests that all manner of media companies, such as TV networks and video game developers, had in profiting off of college athletes.
Thanks to the rule change, the Pond Lehocky Giordano Community initiative, our philanthropic outreach arm where we work to improve our community with volunteering and strategically selected partnerships designed to maximize our public-spirited contributions, is now able to engage directly with student athletes. We are providing a series of endorsements to those we believe are positive representatives for the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania region and that are especially deserving of our support.
Supporting the Injured and Disabled Everywhere
Our community initiative team has chosen to endorse athletes that have been injured on the field who are especially in need of assistance.
College athletes might not technically be employees of the schools they play for, but like the injured employees that we assist in regaining control of their lives and livelihoods after suffering a debilitating injury in the workplace, need powerful, resourceful, and most of all, compassionate advocates to ensure they have every opportunity possible to adapt to their setbacks and recover to the fullest extent possible.
Pond Lehocky Giordano is fully committed to using our expansive legal resources to secure financial compensation for the injured and disabled and to protect their rights under the law. Serious injuries can take individuals away from the people and activities that give meaning to their lives. Our mission is to help them overcome those obstacles and provide comfort and relief when it’s most needed.
Particularly, for college athletes, support from their university or college can diminish or disappear if their injury requires a lengthy recovery time or if they find themselves unable to play again at their former level. Thanks to the NCAA’s NIL rule change, we at Pond Lehocky Giordano can now do our part to help alleviate that loss.
Preston Norwood was unfortunately sidelined in his senior season as a wide receiver by an ACL injury. He is determined not to let that injury prevent him from getting back to playing the game he loves. We salute Preston’s positive attitude, the hard work he’s doing off the field to recover, and his scholarship in the Philadelphia community.
We can think of no better choice to be the next recipient of Pond Lehocky Giordano’s NIL endorsement.
