Players should join O’Bannon vs. NCAA suit, indicates Maryland coach

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall spoke in strong favor of the right of college football players to recoup some of the money schools gain off their likenesses. Edsall said that if he were a player right now, he would “most definitely” join the O’Bannon vs. NCAA lawsuit over the use of player likenesses in EA Sports’ college line of video games and other media.

Edsall’s quotes come from SB Nation’s Mark Ennis, who was on hand to hear the coach’s presser at the annual ACC Kickoff in Greensboro, N.C.:

Edsall says if he were a college football player now, he would join the O’Bannon lawsuit. He said the schools make money off the players’ likenesses and the kids get nothing for it.” Edsall says he’s not rooting for the NCAA to lose the O’Bannon lawsuit, but he says he is concerned with things he sees and he fears the game simply going away if changes aren’t made.Six current players have joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, although none are players for the Terrapins. It’s a lower number than Edsall expected.

It’s one of the most supportive statements anybody in charge of a college team has made to date. Edsall, who was a quarterback at Syracuse during his playing days, also said he felt that the larger conferences should consider separating themselves from smaller ones.

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