Jaden Mickey made sure to tell major Notre Dame rival 'no' despite huge NIL offer

There's a chance that former Notre Dame cornerback Jaden Mickey will be on the opposing side of the field this Saturday, suiting up for Boise State if he's cleared to play.

Mickey could've easily been in this position on October 18 with USC and, according to Mickey's father, Lamar, the Trojans gave his son a lot more reasons to play in Los Angeles than Boise. But Jaden Mickey stayed true to his Notre Dame roots and turned USC down.

​Nothing but love between Jaden Mickey and Notre Dame

"I don't know what it was, but I know USC offered him the most money, and he said 'I can't go to USC'," Lamar Mickey told Eric Hansen and Tyler James on the Third & Goal podcast. "I was like...' Man, I'm 50-something years old...that's a lot of money,' but he said 'I can't do it, I can't do it."

There was no amount of money that was going to convince Jaden Mickey to play for USC. Period.

Despite leaving the Irish last season and signing with the Broncos out of the transfer portal, Mickey made sure he would forever be a part of the Notre Dame family. After he announced his intentions to transfer early last season to preserve his redshirt, Mickey continued to go to the games to cheer on his teammates. And before leaving South Bend, he received his diploma.

Last week, Mickey had to be stretched off the field after a collision on a special teams play against Appalachian State. The redshirt junior was placed into concussion protocol, but he's been steadily improving throughout the week to the point of where he might play Saturday.

But even if Mickey isn't able to suit up tomorrow, Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said that Mickey will be traveling with the team to South Bend.

"As an alum, he's fired up to be able to go play this game, but I had a conversation with him and his dad even the night after," Danielson said. "We are going to protect Jaden. We're going to walk this path. We are going to always put our players' health and care in front of them going to play football."

Marcus Freeman added he was excited to catch up with Mickey and the coach also said he reached out to Mickey during the week to make sure he was ok.

"I know Jaden Mickey, if he's going to be available to play, he's going to find a way to play on Saturday. But all I care about is his health. Love his family, and have been through some tough times with that young man," Freeman said.