As current college athletes continue to profit off of their name, images and likeness, four former Michigan stars are looking for paydays that they believe are overdue.
According to The Detroit News‘ Angelique Chengelis, former Wolverines Braylon Edwards and Denard Robinson are part of a $50 million class action lawsuit that has been filed against the NCAA and the Big Ten Network. Per the lawsuit, the ex-players allege that they were “unlawfully denied” the right to profit off their NIL.
While college athletes have been able to profit off their NIL through methods such as endorsement deals since 2021, the players involved in the lawsuit all had college careers that predate the shift in the NCAA’s rulebook, as well as the 2016 cutoff for the organization’s $2.8 billion settlement with former players. The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday morning in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, claims that they are entitled to “a present and future share of any revenue generated from the use of their publicity rights.”
“This is not a suit against the University of Michigan,” attorney Jim Acho, who is representing the players in the lawsuit, told The Detroit News. “None of the many former players wanted to sue UM and neither did I. It is the NCAA that perpetuated this wrong for decades. They knew it was wrong to prevent players from capitalizing on the most valuable thing they have — their name and image. That has been rectified for current players, but the NCAA needs to correct the wrongs of the past. Today is the day for recompense.”
In addition to Edwards and Robinson, former Michigan linebackers Shawn Crable and Mike Martin have also joined the class-action lawsuit.
“The reason why we’re doing this is because it’s not fair what we had to go through, just like all the other athletes,” Martin told the paper. “The $2.8 billion settlement that recently went through with the cutoff of 2016, that also got me thinking, because it’s like, what about all the eras of guys before 2016?”
The former Michigan stars’ lawsuit is similar in nature to the lawsuit former Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman filed against his alma mater in 2017 and the one that members of the 1983 North Carolina State men’s basketball team filed against the NCAA this past summer. Spielman ultimately settled for $140,000 in 2018, while the lawsuit from the ex-Wolfpack players remains ongoing.
One key difference in the Michigan lawsuit is that it also involves the Big Ten Network. And while the ex-players made it clear that they aren’t accusing their alma mater of wrongdoing, that may ultimately prove to be a distinction without a difference, as the Big Ten — which Michigan is obviously a member of — owns 39 percent of the network.
