Several ex-University of Michigan athletes including Denard Robinson and Braylon Edwards are seeking to revive a lawsuit accusing the NCAA, Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network of profiting from their names, images and likenesses without compensation.
A federal judge decided a year ago to dismiss their proposed class action. In response, the players appealed, and their appeal was accepted by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
"The goal is justice," lead counsel Jim Acho of the Livonia-based law firm Cummings, McClorey, Davis and Acho PLC, said in an email to the Detroit Free Press. "The NCAA and Big Ten knew for decades that not compensating players for their name and image was wrong. It's why they go along with
it now.
"If it's right now, it was wrong back then," Acho said. "They know that."
The initial lawsuit, filed in September 2024 in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Michigan, sought more than $50 million in compensation for what they believe is decades of unlawful use of NIL without their permission.
The suit involves football players who were at Michigan between 1969 and 2015 and feel they were not compensated for things like jersey sales and BTN re-broadcasting games.
The case was dismissed after the judge determined it fell outside of the statute of limitations. At the time, Acho told the Free Press that they planned to appeal the ruling to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Acho has won appeals in many areas, most famously in the NFL concussion class action, as well as in police litigation and municipal law. He represented many NFL Hall of Fame players such as Gale Sayers, Pat Summerall and Lem Barney whose decisions were won on appeal.
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Michigan football players get another shot at $50M NIL lawsuit
