Ed O’Bannon is suing the NCAA for unlawfully using former student-athletes’ images. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco. O’Bannon explains his motivations for bringing the case.
Sonny Vaccaro and his wife, Pam, gave me a call not too long ago and asked if I want to be a part of this case. It took me a night to decide. Then, I jumped at the opportunity.
Before I accepted this case and the opportunity to represent former student-athletes, I looked years down the line. I looked at how my family was going to be viewed. I looked at how my kids, when they come through the NCAA ranks, would be treated. I did my homework.
I also had to get permission from my wife first, and that was kind of hard to do. She’s a tough egg to crack.
It’s been a back and forth thing. She knows how hard I worked as a basketball player. I think she understands where I’m coming from and the duty I have — the duty I’ve accepted and the duty I want.
She was concerned about it changing things. We’ve got a pretty good life. The kids have no worries. They’re good playing in little league. We’ve got money saved up. We live on a hill.
Life is good where I sit at this point in time. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to shake that up a little bit.
I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it to help open eyes about how the NCAA has exploited tons and tons of student-athletes in basketball and football.
The Vaccaros came to me with an opportunity. And I thank God for this opportunity to represent these student-athletes, so they would at some point see some compensation for it.
I just think it’s my duty, as a former student-athlete, to open a door and let everyone see what’s going on. There are a lot of student-athletes who have played basketball and football whose faces are being sold. Their jerseys are being sold. Their images are being sold.
Mr. Vaccaro feels like it’s his duty, also. There is no better man in the world that does what he does.
I’ve known Mr. Vaccaro for more than 20 years. I played in his Nike All-American Basketball Camp when it was held at Princeton University in New Jersey.
He’s passionate about his people. He’s passionate about what he stands for. He’s passionate about the game. He’s passionate about the athletes who play the game.
I think he looks beyond what the athlete can bring as far as money is concerned. He doesn’t see that. He sees the heart and soul of the ballplayer.
The players who know him feel the love and concern. Everyone realizes how genuine he is, and everyone seems to trust him. I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like him.
He’s a man who I love and trust. And because he asked me, I’m honored to be on his team.
As a former student-athlete, this has also been on my mind.
Every student-athlete — past, present and future — wishes to get paid when they’re in school. Let’s be honest about that.
At that time, we’re amateur athletes. OK, we can’t get paid. That’s fine. When you go into school, it’s already embedded in your head that you’re not going to get paid. It’s not some big news.
I don’t know if college athletes should be paid when they’re in school. That’s a whole different topic. I’m not going to get into that.
My biggest thing right now is, once we leave the university and are done playing in the NCAA, one would think we’d be able to leave with our likeness. But we aren’t able to. If you don’t take your likeness with you, you should at least be compensated for every dime that is made off your name or likeness.
That’s where this lawsuit comes in.
It’s been a long time that we have been exploited. Things have got to change, for crying out loud.
Maybe the people who deserve compensation and have been exploited will no longer be exploited. Maybe now the NCAA will hold true to what it says it is: a non-profit organization.
The NCAA has been doing people wrong for a long time. It’s about time something changes. That’s the bottom line.
We haven’t gotten into the odds of winning the case. And I can’t say I followed previous cases about paying college athletes very closely, or at all for that matter. But I will be following this one closely.
If I’m viewed as someone who’s linked to this case ahead of being viewed as a former Player of the Year and UCLA ballplayer, that’s just the way it is. I just feel like it’s my duty to do this.
God put me on this earth to do something. And it obviously wasn’t to play NBA basketball, which I thought it was. I thought I was born to play the sport. I thought I was born to be a Hall of Fame ballplayer. But that didn’t happen.
God has a plan for me, even if I don’t know what it is.
So, when I’m given an opportunity to help someone else, to open doors for players who have been exploited like me and don’t have a voice, I’m going to do it.
That voice has been given to me. I actually have legs to run here. It would be a sin for me not to.
I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep if I hadn’t done this. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in a month because I’ve been worried about this case. Now that it’s finally here, maybe I’ll be able to actually get some sleep.
I have absolutely no idea how long this case could go. I’m in it for the long run.
It’s not often you get to change the game. And it’s not often you get to make an impact on a lot of people’s lives — whether they know it or not. How someone would not want to do that is beyond me.
