The Ed O’Bannon trial captured the imaginations of jut about everyone associated with college athletics because its ruling could have broad implications for all NCAA athletics. The judge handed down his ruling on Friday, and reactions have been pouring in ever since.
One of the more interesting and thoughtful has come from former California Golden Bears linebacker and NFL star Scott Fujita. The now Fox Sports 1 analyst took to Twitter on Saturday morning to express his feelings on the matter and took care with his words on the matter.
Although it didn’t start that way, as Fujita took a shot at the NCAA first…
Forgive me if I've tweeted this multiple times in recent years, but...
— Scott Fujita (@sfujita55) August 9, 2014
NCAA. Lol.
…and then expounded with some thoughtful analysis after that.
And considering Judge Wilken said the NCAA has behaved as a monopoly and violated the Sherman Act, I'd say they got off VERY easy.
— Scott Fujita (@sfujita55) August 9, 2014
I'm no expert, and I'm not even totally clear on what I think SHOULD happen with NCAA. But clearly, change is coming.
— Scott Fujita (@sfujita55) August 9, 2014
While this ruling is just one more step in what is expected to be a long and protracted fight between O’Bannon and the NCAA, Fujita also took care to note the next big shoe to drop—the NCAA vs. Kessler case.
That case seeks to blow the lid off of any and all compensation bans the NCAA has, saying the NCAA is violating anti-trust laws and essentially “price-fixing.”
Attorney Jeffrey Kessler is the one bringing the suit in New Jersey district court, and after the suit was filed has this to say as to why it’s being done:
“The main objective is to strike down permanently the restrictions that prevent athletes in Division I basketball and the top tier of college football from being fairly compensated for the billions of dollars in revenues that they help generate,” Kessler told ESPN. “We’re looking to change the system, that’s the main goal.”
Fujita is right in one regard—change is coming to NCAA athletics one way or the other. Heck, on Thursday a lot of change was granted to the so-called “Power 5” conferences.
Those changes could nullify a lot of what these lawsuits and union movements are seeking to have happen.
Needless to say, these battles are far from over and its likely years before we have any true resolution to these issues at hand today.