Former president of UCLA’s football NIL team denies wrongdoing

The former chairman of UCLA’s football name, image and likeness group on Thursday denied any impropriety related to a report that outlined efforts by the school’s athletic department to donate NIL through his nonprofit charity.

The story was published by the McKinley College Football website foiaball.com Email communications from UCLA athletic department officials showing payments to Bruins for Life, the school’s football program’s one-time NIL collection, were sent to Shelter 37 Inc. Through, a tax-exempt charity that promotes home ownership and supports local youth through a variety of activities.

Donating through Shelter 37 will provide a tax deduction for those who give directly to Bruins for Life — a standard practice in the NIL field — but it also raises questions about potential conflicts of interest and control of funds given that James Washington, who until recently ran Bruins for Life and remained Shelter 37’s president.

The story also questioned Shelter 37’s charitable efforts and suggested that UCLA athletic department officials encouraged violations of Internal Revenue Service guidance on so-called donor-advised funds, directing money to Shelter 37 that could not go to other companies to adopt a more conservative approach to NIL rules.

Emails received by foiaball.com A public records request showed nearly half a million dollars in donations to Bruins for Life went through Shelter 37, with school officials asking anyone who sent their money through the latter organization to specify that it was earmarked for NIL football.

Washington said there is nothing about such an arrangement that is approved by UCLA and involves full transparency.

“Between Shelter 37 and UCLA and Bruins for Life, there’s nothing that’s in the closet,” Washington, a former UCLA safety who went on to win two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, told the Times. “Everything spoken, every move, every action I have taken towards NIL, every step – bookkeeping and everything – has been handed over and handed over to UCLA.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the UCLA athletics department said that “UCLA athletics operates with integrity and transparency, in a manner consistent with industry best practices. Our development team educates potential donors about opportunities, including ways to support our student-athletes.”

In what Washington described as an unrelated move that was confirmed by an athletic department official, UCLA recently transitioned its football NIL operations to new leadership, allowing the Bruins for Life to turn to the alumni club for football. Washington said the Bruins for Life website was temporarily inactive as part of the transition and it will still have a NIL section that provides community outreach opportunities for football players.

Along with longtime UCLA donor John Manock, Washington led Bruins for Life fundraising efforts when it launched in October 2024 as the new NIL arm of UCLA football.

“It’s really exciting,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said at the time, “because it’s going to support our football student-athletes in a really positive way.”

of the foiaball.com The story claims that Bronze for Life’s website stated that it was not a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning that any donations it accepted were not tax-deductible. The website directed those wishing to donate to Shelter 37, a 501(c)(3) organization, to receive tax-deductible donations.

The story reports that Shelter 37’s 2024 IRS 990 tax form, released by ProPublica, showed an increase in income of $4.8 million in 2024 from $800,000 last year. The document said $3.6 million was raised for the Bruins for Life NIL program but only $200 for scholarships for at-risk youth.

Washington said the latter figure was inaccurate because Shelter 37 was not a scholarship-based organization, although it does help at-risk children through various social services. The Times reviewed 37 shelter tax documents that report nearly seven combined figures spent on scholarships, educational programs and housing.

“That’s when people don’t look at the facts,” Washington said, “and they just put stuff out there and they just try to make the story bigger than it needs to be.”

Over the years, Washington said, Shelter 37 has held many community-based events such as turkey drives, soccer camps for inner-city kids and “I’m Going to College” days when the organization paid for buses to transport students to football games at the Rose Bowl.

of the foiaball.com The story argues that Shelter 37 was used as a workplace for donor-advised funds that were stalled. A UCLA athletic department employee, informed of the donor’s denial of the advised fund, forwarded the message to other internal donors, with the message, “Just as an FYI. Here is information for Shelter 37 for DAF gifts.”

A new home for donor-advised funds was needed after another NIL company, Blueprint Sports, shut down its charitable operations as a result of an IRS recommendation, saying its legal counsel had “no way forward.” According to documents reviewed foiaball.com A UCLA athletic department official sent an email to Washington shortly after the IRS directive was released, informing him of a $15,000 donation through Bank of America that was to be sent to Bruins for life.

Washington said there was nothing illegal about donors accepting counseling funds and that every action taken by those organizations was in accordance with the rules.

“Any dollar that was given to me, there is a tracking record and we have a communication document that shows what went out and how it was received,” Washington said. “They [UCLA athletic officials] Know exactly what went into the accounts, they know exactly what came out because everything was disclosed and we communicated and I worked as a boat during the wild, wild west to help the UCLA football program succeed in this new era that we call the NIL.