Working off the advice of their father and an associated group of morons, Nico and Madden Iamaleava have found the red line that nobody else could, and then crossed it. And now...now it's Tombstone.

What we're dealing with here is the basics of business, if not human nature itself. Once a pendulum starts to swing in one direction, it continue in that direction until it runs out of string, momentum, hits a wall or something with a superior opposite force. Thanks to the Iamaleavas, NIL has hit a wall AND been pushed back.

There's something about being realistic about your value and not abusing your position in any line of work. I believe the phrase is called "common sense". That has been in short supply in the NIL and recruiting games and, thanks to this single family, we may be able to get back to it.

There's an open, and unsurprising, debate between Team Nico and Tennessee. If you read Chris Low's article on ESPN.com today, you can get Team Nico's side because they basically wrote it. They say that there wasn't any demand to double Nico's NIL deal from $2 million to $4 million, and that they want Nico out due to worries over the offensive line and receivers.

Yeah, right. If that was the case, Iamaleava would have left before spring ball, because it was already clear that Tennessee needed to rebuild its offensive line and receiver corps. Nothing changed between March 7, when Tennessee started spring ball, and last weekend. It's my belief that they waited to pull this stunt near the end of camp because they felt like that was the time they would have the most leverage, as the Vols would almost have to go with Iamaleava or risk losing him to another school that had come to a realization that they were a signal caller short of winning big.

It does not seem they were expecting Tennessee telling them to go hell, nor the response from the fan base that was overwhelmingly anti-Nico. (A aside: what is it with guys named Nico not understanding their fanbase?)

They saw a mid-level quarterback trying to hold a legendary program hostage, and that was a bridge too far.

They heard the word holdout. In college, that's still a four-letter word.

The thing about college sports is fans are loyal to the program and not singular players, like fans of the NBA tend to be. They were fans of the program before players show up, they'll be fans after players leave and, as A&M said during last season, "if you ain't in (their) jersey, (bleep) you."

If you pull a holdout, even for a day, you're ain't in their jersey. That applies for former teammates as well as fans.

I know of players who have pulled holdouts before games, looking to renegotiate their deals. I won't name names, but if you go back and look at players who have warmed up and suddenly not played in the last several years, who they are becomes apparent. And, after that, they weren't in the jersey anymore and bleep them.

But those deals were kept quiet. Iamaleava's dad and his band of dithering nitwits went very public with their move, which killed any hope of a deal with Tennessee and eliminated any interest from the likes of USC, Colorado, Oregon, Texas Tech and North Carolina. Betrayal, be it real or imagined, remains unpopular in this day and age.

Most fans don't really care if college athletes are getting paid. They don't want to know how the sausage gets made, and they'd like to keep the illusion that there's still something noble about being a student-athlete. Being a holdout kills that idea dead.

Iamaleava will play at UCLA this season, in large part because they were the only ones willing to take him. And he'll take a paycut -- a significant one when you look at the additional taxes he'll pay in California as opposed to Tennessee. It serves him right for being an utter fool, but he also deserves thanks for realigning the market. Teams now realize their fanbases will not revolt if they refuse the demands of a middling player who is more hype than substance.

So, that's it, right? No more stupid from Clan Imaleava, right?

Madden Iamaleava, another quarterback, flipped to Arkansas late in the recruiting process from -- you guessed it -- UCLA. He went in the portal immediately after his brother signed with UCLA and ended up at...well, it ain't USC.

Predictable. But was not predictable, it seems, was Arkansas' reaction to Madden getting on his cruiser and heading west. Ben Folds' song "Song For the Dumped" became real popular in Fayetteville, thanks to the refrain "Gimme my money back you (bleep)."

Athletic Director Hunter Yuracheck made it clear very quickly that Arkansas wanted their money -- $200,000 allegedly -- from Madden Iamaleava's signing bonus back. And their black T-shirt too (listen to the song). To date, no program has publicly done this -- but you can bet they won't be the last.

Two SEC teams. Two brothers. Two programs saying, "Ok, that's it. Enough of this crap."

What is it with this family? They have a talent of bringing entire institutions to the breaking point.

You can call them stupid, entitled, naive, whatever, but consider this: they coudl be the family that started a massive backlash against players running amok in college athletics and not only reset the market, but how business will be done from here on out.

So they can end up martyrs -- just not for the cause they would have supported. The other side.

Oh, and gimme back my black T-shirt.