Ryan Day made an appearance in front of the Ohio state senate panel for workforce and higher education on Tuesday to testify in support for the name, image and likeness bill. He replaced Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, who was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict, per Lettermen Row.

Day argued that NIL legislation would benefit and support student-athletes at Ohio State. He was with State Senator Niraj Antani, who introduced the bill in May.

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“I suggest federal legislation will need to be adopted on the NIL issue to allow for fair and uniform Name, Image and Likeness opportunities for America’s student-athletes,” Day said. “However, until that occurs, Ohio student-athletes cannot be left behind. We were hopeful that federal law and NCAA actions would make legislation in Ohio unnecessary, but it is now clear that enactment of state legislation will be necessary to keep our state and student-athletes on a level playing field.”

Other states have already passes legislation that will allow NIL policies to take effect on July 1. Ohio is rushing to play catch-up with those states.

The NCAA has dragged its feet on the situation relating to NIL legislation and modifying its amateurism model to allow student-athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness. With states making their own decisions on the matter, the organization is going to have little choice but to make some sort of change in the near future.