Aaron Murray saw first-hand how dramatically life has changed for college athletes.

“We had a little dinner in Athens, and oh my God, I’m handing these 19-to 22-year-olds checks for $28,000,” said Murray, the former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback who remains the SEC career leader in passing yards. “I was lucky to have a few hundred bucks in my bank account (during college).”

We’ve come a long way from the days when student-athletes were suspended for the infractions of cashing in on their name, image and likeness. New rules and laws have changed all of that.

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Jackson State marching band will perform this Saturday when the Tigers play Prairie View for the SWAC championship. (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2023)

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Former Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman talks to her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, after she testified before the U.S. House Select Committee at its fourth hearing on its Jan. 6 investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

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