Morgan State defensive lineman Elijah Williams was not only a key performer on the Bears’ top-ranked defense but also a marketing major with an eye on following his family into the business world after graduation.
Harbor Bank, a Black-owned and operated bank serving the Baltimore area since the early 1980s, has worked closely with Morgan State students over the years. So it’s no surprise that Harbor and Williams are collaborating on an NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deal that will allow Williams to intern at the bank while finishing his football eligibility and degree at Morgan.
“We started a conversation with Anthony Johnson of Renaissance Sports Group to paint a picture of the athlete we wanted to represent our brand,” Harbor Vice President Stanley Arnold explained. “Elijah was one of the athletes Anthony mentioned to us. We’ve been connected to Morgan State in a number of ways, and we continue to explore ways to deepen the connection as much as possible.”
“I was pretty grateful that they called me,” said Williams, a Jersey City native with a 3.0 GPA. “I got excited because this is my first NIL deal. I was ready to go right then and there.”
Williams, recently named to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s first team, is thrilled to be working closely with a Black Baltimore institution while earning his degree at an HBCU. He’s looking forward to following in the footsteps of his new mentors.
“Growing up, it’s not every day you meet people with the level of the success they have here,” he said. “They’re all great representations of what Black excellence can be, and I want to step into their shoes or even surpass where they’ve been.”
From Arnold’s perspective, this collaboration is a prime opportunity to pour into young Black men and guide them towards greater things.
“In the banking industry, we feel that there are few African American males in leadership positions,” he explains. “We see it as an opportunity to build a pathway towards leadership. Without these opportunities, how else can we provide leadership for them?”
Williams also sees the collaboration as a chance to learn and grow as a marketing major, and thanks to NIL, he’s already hit the ground running.
“I wanted to be a marketing major from the beginning, so I’m coming into this to learn as much as I can,” he says. “Renaissance has done a great job with helping me learn how to understand contracts and stay on top of things so both sides can get what they need out of the deal.”
