Copyright 2025 KBTX. All rights reserved.“It’s not life-changing money for some people,” Etwi began. “For some people it is. But it’s definitely money that can improve your life a lot. So, everyone was pretty excited.” Many former players aren’t getting their hopes set on the settlement getting approved, Etwi said. Etwi’s objection was first brought […]
Copyright 2025 KBTX. All rights reserved.“It’s not life-changing money for some people,” Etwi began. “For some people it is. But it’s definitely money that can improve your life a lot. So, everyone was pretty excited.” Many former players aren’t getting their hopes set on the settlement getting approved, Etwi said. Etwi’s objection was first brought to public attention from a post on X by Sam C. Ehrlich, an attorney and professor of legal studies at Boise State University and the primary focus of Ehrlich’s published research involves ongoing legal battles within college athletics. (KBTX) – On Dec. 17, 2024, thousands of athletes engaged in a real-life version of “Deal or No Deal” when they logged onto an online portal managed by the company Verita. After entering a specialized ID number and PIN, they were presented with a dollar amount that represented damages for income lost before name, image, and likeness compensation (NIL) was legalized in the NCAA. “What better case is there for broadcast revenue than actually playing on these networks that you have the deals with. I can’t really think of one,” he said.For his senior year, Etwi said he was told the team was maxed out on the scholarships it could distribute, but he believes the program would have put him on scholarship had one been available. Etwi, who graduated from A&M with a degree in engineering and currently works for a tech company, first learned he could be eligible for damages via an email sent to him by Verita, the company approved by the court to contact as many class members as possible. The email contained his identification number and PIN to log in and make his claim. On Dec. 17, there was a damages offer made which exceeded ,000, Etwi confirmed. That changed to nearly nothing days later, he said. Ehrilich said he thinks Etwi’s objection could be a point of conversation during the final hearing. In a twisted version of the game show, former Texas A&M running back Kwame Etwi was presented a sizeable deal one day, only to log in the next and have no deal at all. Now, he’s speaking for former walk-ons across the country who will not be compensated for their contributions to college football broadcasts over the last decade. Three classes have been defined in the settlement: The football and men’s basketball class, the women’s basketball class, and the additional sports class – the crux of Etwi’s objection. “It is particularly disheartening that the current criteria prioritizes scholarship status over actual contributions to the time,” Etwi wrote.According to the settlement document, an estimated 19,000 former college athletes make up the football and men’s basketball class for broadcast NIL and will receive approximately ,000 to 0,000 damages. The video game damages range from 0 to ,000, according to the document. “I contest the criteria because it unfairly excludes athletes like me who had Division I offers but chose to play at a more dominant school and, despite making significant contributions to their teams, did not receive a full GIA scholarship from their chosen school,” the letter reads.“I had to follow all the rules,” Etwi told KBTX. “I was at every practice, every weight session, every game, traveled to every single game except one. So, it felt wrong to me. It didn’t feel equitable.” Etwi believes the logic is backwards. The most popular players would have been coveted for a video game, had one been able to be produced. Video game production companies were forced to halt making college sports simulations after the O’Bannon v. NCAA ruling in 2015 that challenged the NCAA’s use of player’s name, image, and likeness. NIL wasn’t legalized until the summer of 2021. According to court postings and Ehrlich’s research, Etwi’s objection is one of eight letters that have been formally received by the court, all with varying reasons for objections. However, Ehrlich believes there will be more received before the Jan. 31 deadline.With some help from family friends who are lawyers, Etwi penned his objection with hopes that he might be called to testify during the settlement’s final approval hearing, which is currently scheduled for April 7. “It’s based on [Wilkins’] thoughts on whether this is something that can stand up to scrutiny,” explained Ehrlich. “It’s certainly going to be something where a large collection of voices could potentially sway her.”He was told the change spawned from the fact that, since he was not on scholarship, he was only potentially eligible for the video game NIL damages.The compensation in question is the pending settlement antitrust case against the NCAA and power conferences. The class-action lawsuit was brought forth by six current and former athletes in 2020: Former Arizona State swimmer Grant House, current TCU women’s basketball player Sedona Prince, former Illinois football player Tymir Oliver, former Duke football player DeWayne Carter, current Stanford soccer player Nya Harrison, and former North Carolina lacrosse player Nicholas Solomon. “Not only was Kwame a player on the field, he was a leader in the locker room,” said former A&M 12th Man Cullen Gillaspia. “He was on the team for four years. He’d eat, sleep, and breathe football, and was just as part of the team as anyone else. Just because his college wasn’t paid for, it doesn’t mean he was any less a part of our team or the games that we’ve won.”Yet, one thing stood out in all of the figures Etwi saw in those text message groups – the high-dollar figures were based solely on years carried on scholarship. In the meantime, it’s a waiting game for Etwi and all the athletes who have or haven’t received damage estimates. Since the initial emails started circulating in October, former A&M players have flooded group chats with information about their claims and what complaints they might have. Gillaspia, who did not earn a scholarship until earning the 12th Man designation later in his career, said he would accept the smaller claim he was offered. To him, the broadcast backpay should be as simple as how many times he showed up on the television coverage of the game. “That’s why I’m contesting, because I’m in group messages with people that are very popular versus people that were on the team but might not have been as popular,” added Etwi. “All the same thing, same amount. So, that’s what bothers me. They’re not doing it off popularity or snaps played or anything like that. It’s just strictly your scholarship or you’re not… Life’s not fair, but the case for this semes like they’re trying to make it easy and generic, but not using a good definition of [who should be paid].” This settlement provides .6 billion in backpay to Division I athletes who were on roster from June 15, 2016 to present, based on NIL lost in broadcast rights, what would have been made for video game NIL, other compensations for athletic services, and lost NIL payments that could have been made had NIL compensation been legal. It also includes injunctive relief, or revenue sharing, for current and future athletes over a 10-year period among other rule changes for the NCAA. Etwi penned an objection letter to the House v. NCAA settlement, which was filed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on January 6, asking the court to “reconsider the criteria for the damage class” and base it on participation metrics, and not simply scholarship status. While Etwi was never on scholarship during his four years at A&M, spanning from 2015 to 2018, he contributed vastly more than the stereotypical walk-on. Through those seasons, he carried the ball 59 times for 391 yards and two touchdowns. He also served as a kick returner during his senior season with three carries for 50 yards. For the entirety of his senior season, Etwi was listed as the backup running back to starter Trayveon Williams on A&M’s weekly depth chart. Etwi included links to all of this information in the letter he sent to the court as evidence for his case. “The standard for Judge [Claudia] Wilkin, in the Northern District of California, when she is looking to decide whether to approve the settlement or not, whether to give final approval to the settlement or not, is that the settlement has to be fair and reasonable to all members of the class,” Ehrlich told KBTX. “So, various athletes and members of the class can write these opinions saying, ‘hey, I do not think this is fair and reasonable to me. I don’t think this fully meets my interests,’ and Judge Wilkin is required to take that into account.”According to the settlement, members of the football and men’s basketball class, as well as the women’s basketball class, must have received a full grant-in-aid scholarship to be eligible for most of the settlement damages. Etwi is only eligible for the additional sports class.
