In 2021 Tyler Sumpter was in his second season at his dream school, West Virginia University. After spending four years at Troy University, punting and kicking, the opportunity came up to be a Mountaineer. Sumpter played the 2020 and 2021 seasons with West Virginia University where he played in 21 total games and mainly punted for the team. During the 2021 season at West Virginia though, he didn’t limit himself to just punting.. At West Virginia, Sumpter explored his love for videography and content creation. He filmed training sessions and created highlight videos for his teammates during the 2021 season at West Virginia and opened doors for himself off the football field. Now, in 2022 he is ready to launch what could be the biggest company in sports with “Psychletes”.
Psychletes will be “the platform for growth” and a go to platform for all athletes when it comes to building their personal brands. The company will offer all kinds of services for athletes to grow their names, images and likeness in the public eye while also helping athletes explore their interests outside of sports and prepare for life. Another large focus of Psychletes, and Tyler Sumpter comes in the mental side of sports. Not only does he want to create a platform where athletes can grow as brands and people, but Sumpter also has the goal of creating a platform where athletes can come together and talk about their mental health.
Sump Did It; West Virginia punter Tyler Sumpter is making a name for himself beyond the football field – JZ MEDIA
The name of the company, “Psychletes” comes from a combination of the word’s “psychology” and “athletes.” As a Psychology graduate of Troy University, an athlete himself, and someone very instilled into the sports community, Tyler Sumpter is set to do something with Psychletes that has never been done by anyone else in sports.
“I see it being a one-of-a-kind company. It will really be a one stop shop for athletes, entrepreneurs, artists, business owners, and anyone else.” he told JZ Media’s Jordan Zlomislic who will be telling stories and creating content for Psychletes, “If an athlete wants a highlight tape, we can make it. If they want an edit, we can do it. They want to do a photoshoot; we can do it. If someone wants to do a training video, we can do it. Heck, if they want to start their own company and need a logo, a website, merch, a podcast, even a documentary or a short movie, Psychletes can do it and that is what makes it so big. There is really no limit as to how big we can do this, really because we are going to do anything and everything for athletes to grow their brands on and off the field. It has never been done before. There is no example, or blueprint to follow. I can say we are going to be like Barstool Sports, or the Gary Vee of athletes and sports, but I see it being so much more than that, I don’t want to limit what we’re about to do.”
With experience in the videography and content creation field, Sumpter’s focus on building athlete’s brands comes through content, and media, however the vision of Psychletes goes past just content. As he mentioned, he looks for Psychletes to be a go to company and platform for athletes to grow, learn and get work done.
It will be a company that will bring the best out of all athletes, from all sports and from all levels of their sport. From high school basketball players to Olympic gold medalist swimmers, Psychletes will be the place for all athletes to grow and connect as one community. The goal is to help athletes, and since this has never been done before, in this fashion, the future of Psychletes is unknown, but it is unknown for the good. With the right people on board, and the right mindsets, Psychletes can very well be the biggest company in sports soon.
The thing is though, the right people are on board and the right mindsets are there with Psychletes, so it is no longer “it can be big,” it is more of “it will be big.” A part of Psychletes, alongside Tyler Sumpter will be Mekhi Stevenson, an NCAA football player like Sumpter.
On the football field, Stevenson is a wide receiver at the University of Idaho, and former UNLV Rebel originally from San Diego, California. Over the span of his career, the 6-foot, 189-pound wideout has caught 81 passes for 933 yards and seven scores over 46 games with Idaho and UNLV, but off the football field he has established a name for himself as a videographer, director, company owner and all-around creative genius. Both Mekhi Stevenson and Tyler Sumpter met through a mutual friend, knowing that they had similar skill sets and that they had similar backgrounds, being football players in the content creating industry, but they did not know that they would connect and click the way they did. After just one conversation, and many more after that, Sumpter and Stevenson were invested in each other. They were ready to work together and use their strengths to make an impact in sports. Being a part of Psychletes, “I want to create content that carries a message and tells a story,” Stevenson said, “studying cinema at school I learnt so much about the power of video and I gained as much knowledge as possible about making movies, and film, then adding my competitiveness into the mix I started Overly Competitive Productions where I use my skills and everything I know to one day change the world with content.”
A lot of people can look at Sumpter, what he does with “SumpDidIt” filming and making highlight videos and Stevenson with his company “Overly Competitive Productions” and compare them to other content creators with ease, however you cannot. The two main individuals behind Psychletes are simply different. Whether that be because of their creativity, passion, or overall goal and vision with the company, it is obvious, after talking with the two individuals, that Psychletes will take over the sports industry. It should not be a matter of “will it be big?” but it should be more of a question like, “what part of Psychletes will make the biggest impact to make the company big?” because of how much they are invested into doing with this platform in the works. To officially launch the company, and the platform, both Tyler Sumpter and Mekhi Stevenson have released their first ever Psychletes podcast to get into more detail as to who they are and what Psychletes is all about. In the words of founder, CEO Tyler Sumpter himself, “it will be the most impactful company in sports.”
On Sunday, April 3rd, just after Sumpter’s pro day at West Virginia on Tuesday, Stevenson and Sumpter are putting on their first Psychletes event, it will be a retreat and a football camp for high school athletes. To be a part of it and be at the event email TeamOCP.LLC@gmail.com. Being a part of this event will only help you in the long run to become a better player on and off of the football field.
JZ MEDIA 