Four former Michigan players, including former quarterback Denard Robinson and wide receiver Braylon Edwards, have filed a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA and Big Ten Network seeking more than $50 million for “unfairly and unlawfully denying” them the opportunity to make money off of their name, image and likeness.
The lawsuit says the NCAA and Big Ten Network have “systematically exploited these iconic moments” that players created during their careers at Michigan. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of those who played for Michigan before 2016.
Only since 2021 have college athletes been able to benefit from NIL.
The NCAA declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In May, the NCAA, its major conferences and attorneys representing Division I athletes agreed to settle three major antitrust lawsuits that threatened to upend the business model of college sports. The defendants agreed to pay roughly $2.7 billion in damages.
Any Division I athlete who played a sport from 2016 to the present is eligible to receive compensation for past harm. The 2016 limit is due to the statute of limitations on the initial House v. NCAA lawsuit, which was filed in 2020.
“The NCAA knew for decades that preventing players from monetizing the only thing of value they have — their name — was wrong and illegal,” said Jim Acho, the plaintiffs' attorney. “Today they recognize that players should have that right. But what about all the players in the past who were illegally denied that right? The money made at the expense of those players amounted to hundreds of millions. … The players never saw a cent.
“…We are here to correct that mistake.”
Former Michigan defensive end Mike Martin and linebacker Shawn Crable joined Robinson and Edwards in the lawsuit against the Big Ten Network and the NCAA. Robinson played quarterback for the Wolverines from 2009 to 2012 and was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2010. Edwards won the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's top wide receiver, in 2004.
