University of Missouri football player countersues University of Georgia

A University of Missouri athlete countersued his former university on Tuesday.

Mizzou Football’s defensive end, Damon Wilson II, is countersuing the University of Georgia for damages regarding Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money.

The lawsuit comes after the University of Georgia Athletic Association (UGAA) sued Wilson for allegedly violating a Term Sheet that he had signed in December 2024 during the College Football Playoffs.

The paperwork was presented to him by the Classic City Collective, Inc. (CCC), a supporter-funded platform used by UGAA to license student-athletes’ NIL rights, according to court records.

Wilson’s legal counsel argued that the signed Term Sheet was never a legally binding contract, as the documentation included the line, “In the event the parties agree to this Term Sheet, then they shall work cooperatively to set forth these terms in a full legal contract, including all the standard provisions of NIL licensing agreements.”

His attorney further noted that the CCC never presented him with what was promised in the Term Sheet or used it as a base to create a full legal License and Option Agreement contract.

Court documents reported that four days after Wilson signed the Term Sheet, and no legally binding contract was created, finalized or signed, CCC sent him $30,000 on Christmas Day.

Approximately one week later, Georgia’s season ended in a loss and the defensive end entered the transfer portal, eventually deciding to transfer to the University of Missouri to expand his opportunities of getting exposed to the NFL.

Less than three weeks later, CCC issued a termination notice to Wilson following his transfer announcement, which included a claim that would have required him to pay “all remaining License Fees that would have otherwise been payable under” the Term Sheet, which was a total of $390,000.

The lawsuit accused UGAA of violating the confidentiality agreement by publicly disclosing the full, signed Term Sheet to news outlets, on the public docket and by contacting at least three major college football programs to falsely claim that if Wilson left Georgia, then he would be subject to a 1.2 million buyout.

“UGAA’s actions signal that it is stuck in its old ways. The era of universities exerting total control over the career trajectories and rights of their student-athletes has been dead for nearly half a decade,” read the lawsuit. “Nonetheless, UGAA has demonstrated that, left to its own devices, it will attempt to exploit every loophole to deprive student-athletes like Wilson of the ability to reap the benefits of full and fair competition for their NIL rights.”

The petition stated that Wilson will not endure harassment from the UGAA and hold them accountable for interfering with his “business expectations when he entered the portal and chose to transfer, their breach of the Term Sheet’s Confidentiality Agreement and UGAA’s efforts to tarnish his reputation as he pursues his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL.”