Ed O'Bannon speaks out on EA Sports paying players for NIL use

Ed O'Bannon, the UCLA legend behind the landmark lawsuit against the NCAA that helped paved the way toward compensation for student-athletes, gave his thoughts on EA Sports' announcement that players featured in its upcoming college football game will be paid.

In an exclusive op-ed to Sportico, the former ninth overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft reflected on what inspired him to take action against the NCAA, going to a friend's house and seeing himself as part of the "classic" 1994-95 UCLA Bruins in NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition." O'Bannon took great issue with the fact that the NCAA found a way to make money from his name, image and likeness (NIL) years after he played college basketball, especially since student-athletes could not be legally compensated during their time on campus.

As Americans, we have something called a “right of publicity.” It protects others from exploiting our identity. College athletes should have had the rights to their name image and likeness, just like any other American, but the NCAA prevented them from using those rights by creating rules that threatened their eligibility and their scholarships.

My goal was always to bring awareness to this injustice, and now we are finally seeing how current players are benefiting from exercising their rights.

While he was not the first former college athlete to sue the NCAA, his case made the most waves. Advised by famed former sneaker company executive Sonny Vaccaro, O'Bannon was the lead plaintiff in a suit that also included the legendary Oscar Robertson, who was active in increasing player power throughout his illustrious NBA career. O'Bannon also co-wrote a book with Sportico's legal analyst Michael McCann about his case.

In 2015, O'Bannon, along with current ESPN analyst and former Michigan star Jalen Rose, also used humor to get the story across in this slightly NSFW clip from "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." Both were featured players in a hilarious mock video game called "March Sadness" that depicted the trials and tribulations of star student-athletes.