Proceeds from the auction of Minshew's Snickers campaign will go to the Movember FoundationGETTY IMAGES
Hype around Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew has been "in full bloom throughout Dade County" during Super Bowl week, as he has been on a Snickers'-sponsored media tour, "sporting a full headband, aviators and a $75,000 Snicker's chain that he won for being the 'Hungriest Player of the Year,'" according to Gene Frenette of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. While Minshew's popularity as a rookie QB is "indisputable, the early returns on Minshew's marketability are just as impressive." Frenette: "Clearly, it's not just Jaguars' fans who have embraced No. 15 for being a lovable underdog." Sportstars Dir of Player Marketing Emil Boccio, whose company handles Minshew's endorsements, said, "Gardner doesn't need any coaching up. He knows exactly what to do and what to say. He's just being himself and people seem to gravitate toward it." After Minshew replaced an injured Nick Foles in Week 1, sports apparel company BreakingT "immediately reached out to Boccio," who "saw a can't-miss marketing opportunity." It "wasn't long before Minshew T-shirts began popping up online and in select Jacksonville retail locations." BreakingT "wasn't the only company that made a pitch to market Minshew products," but it got the partnership because Minshew "trusted his marketing company to find the right fit." This Super Bowl week marketing onslaught by Minshew "could well be the start of future lucrative off-the-field endorsements, depending on how he pans out" as an NFL QB (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/31). NFL Network's Lindsay Rhodes said Minshew "looks like the star of a '70s flick and he runs like Mark Wahlberg in 'Invincible.'" Meanwhile, Minshew will auction off a gold chain with the Snickers logo worth $35,000 with proceeds going to the Movember Foundation, which he said is a "cause that I'm tied with" ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 1/30).
