Mo’ money, ‘Moh’ Bility: AT&T’s newest NIL athlete

By Diego Palos Rodriguez     3/11/25 11:16pm

Boasting one of the most unique names in college football, Mohammed “Moh” Bility, a redshirt junior cornerback, has been featured on sports programs such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN College Gameday, Golf Digest, Barstool Sports and more. 

The play on words was not intentional, Bility said. He was born outside of the U.S. and was named after the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, but it wasn’t until high school that others started making the connection with his name.

“Nobody started calling me ‘Moh Bility’ until the tenth grade, and they didn’t even call me that, it was just a [football] sign,” Bility said. “Rice was the first school that, I think they put it on their graphic, ‘Coming to South Main: Moh Bility.’ And that’s when it blew up.”

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Bility’s name landed on South Main at the time of new Name, Image, and Likeness policies allowing college athletes to enter sponsorship deals. Last month, Bility announced on Instagram that he had signed an NIL deal with AT&T, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the U.S. 

“The process started off with our former head coach [Mike Bloomgren] sending me a text saying I’ll be getting a text from Ben Westcott, who is kind of the head of the NIL [collective],” Bility said. “When I first got the email [about the deal], I was like, ‘Nah, this isn’t real, does that say AT&T?’ I was so stunned.”

Westcott is a managing member of the South Main Collective, which is an organization independent from Rice that facilitates NIL deals with student-athletes. Westcott, who is president of The Brotherhood, the football branch of the collective, found and negotiated the deal with AT&T, a process that took more than seven months in total.

“I talked to a lot of sports agents, and it actually came to me from a sports agent who knew the advertising representative for AT&T,” Westcott said. “[That] was before the start of the football season last year, so July or August of 2024.”

Westcott said that negotiating a talent contract with companies as big as AT&T can be difficult, as they have more leverage in the process, but the company handled Bility’s deal in a professional and proactive manner.

“They made an offer, we made a counter-offer, and I think they made another offer, and then it was done,” Westcott said. “It was pretty quick. They came to us, [and] I think they had a value in mind before they ever started.”

Although there was an agreement early on, a bulk of the negotiation focused on Bility’s status as a full-time student and football player whose priorities during the football season were going to class and practice, Westcott said. 

After signing the contract, Bility discussed content ideas with the AT&T team and recorded promotional videos during the football team’s bye week in November, but he didn’t release any of them until the spring semester. 

The videos are part of a campaign where Bility enters the NIL process, calls out brands and eventually signs with AT&T. So far, Bility has posted videos receiving care packages and a room remodeling from AT&T, which have featured items such as an AT&T chain, customized jerseys, gaming chairs and pillows and blankets with his face and name on them. 

“It was one of the funnest experiences I’ve had, for sure,” Bility said. “A lot of great people on both sides, like AT&T and [the advertising agency] BBDO. Everybody had fun. And my teammates were amazing, too, because one of the videos shot was in their dorms; of course, in return, I let them keep some of the stuff in the video shoots.”

Bility said Rice was helpful in the process of filming, and has gained the praise of companies like AT&T and BBDO. 

“Rice was amazing because they were very open to it,” Bility said. “They didn’t make the process difficult. I feel like one thing that AT&T and BBDO said is that they love doing things with a school like Rice because of the culture that Rice has. They were extremely supportive with everything.”

Rice alumni and donors have made extended efforts over the last few years to support student-athletes in the NIL era, namely with the creation of the South Main Collective. 

According to Westcott, Bility’s deal with AT&T serves as a way to demonstrate to other companies the benefits of sponsoring Rice student-athletes, which can help grow NIL opportunities at Rice.

“Companies want to know that the athletes that they do business with are reliable and dependable, and we can also demonstrate that the [South Main Collective] is sophisticated and reliable and dependable,” Westcott said. 

Rice Athletics and alumni like Westcott have also been involved in teaching student-athletes how to market themselves and strategies on how to acquire NIL deals.

“I got sent to an NIL summit last year in July, and it allowed me to see how people get NIL [deals] and how people build brands to be able to reach out and receive NIL [deals],” Bility said. “I appreciate Ben [Westcott] so much, especially with the contract, handling my contract, telling them what I can do, because I don’t have nobody that can help me with that type of stuff.”

This era of NIL in the NCAA has ultimately allowed student-athletes like Bility to engage in business opportunities and receive compensation for the work that they put into their sports. Student-athletes, however, are still learning about different ways to take advantage of these policies. 

“Don’t do what I did in terms of sitting around and hoping something comes to you,” Bility said. “You want to reach out to brands. You want to create your image and your brand before you start pursuing deals. You don’t necessarily need a big following; you have to be yourself. Companies and brands, they want people that genuinely like their products, so just be authentic.”

Bility acknowledged the luck he had in being named “Moh” Bility, but that hasn’t stopped him from learning more about NIL deals and ways to capitalize on NIL policies. 

Ultimately, shout-outs from sports programs and being crowned “best name in college football” by Keegan-Michael Key help Bility continue to grow his brand.

“I’m always laughing, just like, ‘Here [they] go again.’ And it’s real funny,” Bility said. “But if it helps get my name out there, helps with brands and things like that, that’s great for me, and I appreciate them being amused by it.”

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