TUSCALOOSA NEWS: Why the New Alabama Football Retail Store is on Correct Side of the NIL Debate

Ernest Westerlund and his grandson, Braxton, stood patiently at the front of a short line on Saturday, 40 minutes before the doors opened, for some Alabama history to be made.

A nine-panel video display welcomed them with rolling Alabama football highlights and, as if that weren't personal enough, UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne emerged and thanked Westerlund, and 30 or so others in line, for showing up more than seven hours before Alabama kicked off against Texas A&M.

The event was the grand opening of The Authentic, a new retail shop at Bryant-Denny Stadium that is filled with NIL (name, image and likeness) merchandise from jerseys to signed footballs and more. Alabama's players earn money from sales, so a piece of what's paid for a Bryce Young jersey, for instance, ends up in Young's pocket. Westerlund was the first customer to set foot in the place, and he knew it was no standard gear shop offering only team merchandise…