Four former Michigan State 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 “wrongfully and unlawfully” denying them the opportunity to monetize their name, image and likeness.

The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA and the Big Ten Network have “systematically exploited these iconic moments that players created during their careers at Michigan.” The lawsuit is brought on behalf of those who played for Michigan before 2016.

College athletes have only been able to benefit from NIL since 2021.

The NCAA declined to comment on the lawsuit.

In May, the NCAA, its governing bodies and lawyers for Division I athletes agreed to settle three major antitrust lawsuits that threatened to undermine college sports’ business model. The defendants agreed to pay about $2.7 billion in damages.

Any Division I athlete who played a sport from 2016 to the present is entitled to recover past damages. The 2016 deadline is due to the statute of limitations on the original House v. NCAA lawsuit, which was filed in 2020.

“The NCAA has known for decades that it was wrong and unlawful to prevent players from monetizing the only thing of value they have – their name,” said Jim Acho, the plaintiffs’ attorney. “Today they recognize that players should have that right. But what about all the former players who were unlawfully denied that right? The money made on the backs of those players was in the hundreds of millions. … The players never saw a dime.”

“…We are here to right this wrong.”

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.