Bruins for Life emerges as UCLA football’s NIL arm in reboot of fundraising efforts

UCLA’s football team is making a massive midseason change as part of a reboot of the athletic department’s name, image and likeness endeavors.

Bruins for Life, a new NIL arm established to focus solely on football, will join Champion of Westwood and Men of Westwood as one of the school’s NIL branches.

“This structure gives us more clarity and makes it easier for people that want to support our student-athletes to do it,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond told The Times. “You really need a more singular, specialized focus when it comes to raising money for football and men’s and women’s basketball.”

As part of the reorganization, Champion of Westwood will support women’s basketball and the Olympic sports while Men of Westwood will support men’s basketball.

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Jarmond said Bruins for Life, spearheaded by former UCLA safety and two-time Super Bowl champion James Washington as well as longtime donor John Manuck, quietly raised more than $1 million before its official launch Tuesday morning.

“It’s really exciting,” Jarmond said of the fundraising efforts, “because it’s going to support our football student-athletes in a real positive way.”

Even with Bruins for Life off to an encouraging start, Men of Westwood unquestionably remains the blue-and-gold standard for the athletic department’s NIL fundraising ventures thanks to founder Ken Graiwer and men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin.

Cronin has worn Men of Westwood T-shirts and his team has featured the NIL logo on interview backdrops for the last two seasons. Cronin told The Times this summer that the team’s success in its NIL endeavors allowed it to snag six transfers as part of a heralded recruiting class that also included McDonald’s All-American point guard Trent Perry.

“Mick Cronin has attacked NIL and he has done a tremendous job creating opportunities for our young men in the basketball program,” Jarmond said. “Mick works hard, he understands it, he gets it, we’re going to actually ask him to talk to a lot of our other coaches just about his strategy when it comes to NIL because he’s done a tremendous job.”

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Said Graiwer, who will continue to oversee both the Men of Westwood and Champion of Westwood funds: “As this organization continues to evolve, the goal is the same — to help UCLA athletics remain competitive in the NIL era. I am excited to expand our impact and continue bringing life-changing support to Bruin student-athletes.”

Jarmond also credited football coach DeShaun Foster and his staff with understanding the importance of NIL in rebuilding a program that will need an infusion of talent after this season.

“I would tell you from the time that he was hired in the offseason, he put a lot of effort into NIL,” Jarmond said of Foster. “He’s still doing that, his staff is doing that; I don’t think you would see Bruins for Life emerge without DeShaun and the staff’s efforts and importance in focusing on NIL and really putting their energy behind it, so that’s not always the head coach every minute, but he’s got to make it a priority and DeShaun has made it a priority — otherwise you wouldn’t see Bruins for Life emerge and come out of the gates the way it has so strong.”