More than 300 former Michigan football players now part of lawsuit vs. NCAA, Big Ten

Posted by author January 29, 2025 Football

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The NCAA, the Big Ten conference and the Big Ten Network have filed a motion in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan seeking to dismiss the name, image and likeness class action lawsuit brought upon by former Michigan football players.

Last September, four prominent former Michigan football players filed a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA and Big Ten Network, requesting a payment of $50 million for the continued use of their name, image and likeness on television.

The plaintiffs — Braylon Edwards, Denard Robinson, Michael Martin and Shawn Crable — are represented by Jim Acho of the Livonia-based law firm Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho, PLC. That quartet has now been joined by hundreds of other former U-M football players from 1969-2015 who are seeking monetary compensation for what they believe is decades of unlawful NIL use without compensation, including jersey sales and continued rebroadcast of games.

As of Wednesday, more than 340 players had joined according to Acho, including former Michigan All-Americans Anthony Carter, Mark Messner and Jarrett Irons, among others.

“An overwhelming number of players — almost all of whom are all financially successful I might add — reached out, wanting to join this lawsuit because they said it was out of principle,” Acho told the Free Press. “Money was made off their backs, they were denied the right to use their name and image and everybody knew decades ago it was wrong.

“It was unlawful. It was unethical. And these men want to make a statement.”

Mike Kenn, a 17-year NFL veteran, All-Pro NFL tackle and the longest-serving president of the NFLPA was named spokesman for the the players among the 1970s Wolverines; Messner and Irons were named spokesmen for the 1980s and 1990s eras, respectively.

In total, more than 15 former Michigan All-Americans, spanning five decades, are involved in the suit, according to Acho3

The suit states, in part, that both the NCAA and BTN made money off of plays made by +past Michigan football athletes by “broadcasting, advertising, and selling merchandise featuring their performances” without recording their consent or providing financial compensation.

Not only that, but the players themselves were denied the ability to make money off their own name or image, even though the NCAA knew that violated antitrust law, according to Acho.

The three defendants, however, argue the case should be dropped “for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” In the 25-page motion, a handful of issues are presented including statute of limitations, saying that Acho and company are too late in trying to reclaim their lost funds.

“Plaintiffs’ claims are all time-barred. Antitrust claims have a four-year statute of limitations,” the motion reads in part. “Plaintiffs waited too long to bring this action. Their proposed class definition ends in 2016—more than eight years ago—and their claims are based on conduct allegedly occurring between eight years and several decades ago.”

It continues that the plaintiffs, “fail to plausibly plead injury based on alleged use of their NIL in ‘broadcasts of sporting events’ and also states the plaintiffs are members of another certified injunctive class action suit (O’Bannon vs. NCAA) which “resolved a challenge to NCAA rules regarding compensation for use of student athletes’ alleged NIL ‘in game footage or in video games’ both during and after their college eligibility.”

They say Acho’s group should be precluded from relitigating those issues once more.

“Plaintiffs cannot resuscitate their failed antitrust claims by re-characterizing them as unjust enrichment claims,” the introduction concludes. “The Amended Complaint should accordingly be dismissed with prejudice.”

Acho disagrees.

“The mistake they made in the House v. NCAA settlement and our view is that they cut the class off at 2016,” he said. “Merchandising and TV broadcast rights began decades before that. Big Ten Network consistently airs classic Michigan games going all the way back to 1969. If you’re a Mark Messner or a Jarrett Irons and you see yourself on television after year without any sort of compensation, is that equitable? No.

“In addition, jersey sales of specific players goes back to the 1980s. There are a lot of former players who are entitled to back compensation. The NCAA has admitted as much — it’s just a matter of how far back they are willing to go to compensate those ex-players.”

Acho has successfully represented retired NFL and MLB players in similar class-action suits.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.