Money available for teenage stars

The trend, an offshoot of a movement that began decades ago at the professional level and finally got traction among the colleges only recently, is now trickling down to high schools and below.

A local beneficiary of all of this may well be a senior at Menlo-Atherton High School. Jurrion Dickey appears to be a likely target for a personal endorsement contract, if he doesn’t have one already. He’s that impressive on the football field.

An East Palo Alto resident, he has transferred to the San Mateo County public school after spending his first three prep years starring at Valley Christian High School in San Jose.

Tall, strong, fast, agile and relentless, he is one of the top recruits in the entire nation. He does just about everything on the football field, as witnessed by his stellar four-touchdown performance against Bellarmine Prep of San Jose last weekend in Atherton, a 48-34 M-A victory.

Versus the Jesuit school, Dickey was a one-man wrecking crew, almost unstoppable with one eye-popping play after another that wowed the crowd of more than 3,000 sun-baked folks.

Dickey would appear to be a prime prospect for a NIL deal, an endorsement pact to lock him in to a long-term financial relationship (especially as eager college boosters get more creative with their largesse in this regard).

If this sounds somehow far-fetched, it isn’t. David Grissom, commissioner of the Central Coast Section, one of 10 geographic regions of the California Interscholastic Federation (the governing body for high school sports in the state), said the CIF has long permitted NIL deals for the state’s prep athletes.

There is one very large caveat, however: Youngsters who opt to receive payment for endorsement deals must not involve their schools in any way, shape or form. That’s a no-no.

So Dickey is essentially free to sign on the dotted line with the highest bidder and maintain his playing status at M-A, as long as he abides by the CIF mandate. The door is wide open.

GINA AND ROB, TV TORT TIME: Last names are so passe. Whether it’s Pink, Steph, Prince, Tonto, Zorro, Madonna, Diana or LeBron, last names are becoming about as relevant as yesterday’s Bay tidal chart.

A personal favorite for months has been the TV duo of “Gina” and “Rob.” They have been on the tube on a regular basis (although their presence has lately slackened off a bit), touting a law firm eager to represent you in case of an unfortunate mishap.

It’s been almost impossible to avoid them as the summer slowly winds down. Their blurbs have focused on gaining some degree of monetary compensation due to personal injury. Nothing wrong with that, certainly. And why not? It’s the American way.

An evening of tube viewing, though, hasn’t been complete without at least one rerun appearance by this chatty pair of eager, programmed spokespersons.

Who are these two? They have never really tried to identify themselves. They keep us guessing. Maybe it doesn’t matter. If steadfast single-name identification is good enough for the legendary likes of dudes like Zorro and Tonto it’s good enough for Gina and Rob.

More power to them. They have helped make TV viewing an exercise in Tort Time.

BRING BACK TRIPLE-SCOOP: Back in the day, there was nothing quite like a quick visit to the ice cream counter at Thrifty Drug. The Millbrae location on Murchison Drive was a personal favorite.

The now-defunct pharmacy giant featured one-scoop cones for 5 cents, two scoops for 10 and a triple-helping for 15 cents. That was in 1972.

Today, Thrifty is long gone. But it’s signature ice cream remains. Where? At Rite Aid outlets. But only in bulk. No more cones. Nonetheless, the creamy stuff brings back a hint of what was once upon a time.

You can get in touch with John Horgan by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.