Twenty-eight college football players caused a minor stir when they all wrote the letters APU — “All Players United” — somewhere on their gear during their games last week. The move by the athletes from Northwestern, Georgia and Georgia Tech was a peaceful protest, an important statement that college football players are becoming more aware of a fundamental economic injustice: schools are making millions off of their work, but players are restricted from accessing that cash and the commercial opportunities that come with it. “More players and teams have expressed interest in doing something similar,” said Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association, which helped plan the APU gesture. “I’m optimistic it will grow in the weeks to come.” Despite the message from players, this week college sports leaders reiterated their hard-line against pay-for-play. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney said that players who wanted to “professionalize themselves” could skip college. He said schools should work with the NBA and NFL to create minor league opportunities. “They can sell their likeness and do whatever they want to do,” Delany told a group of reporters. “We don’t want to do that. We want to do what we’ve been doing for 100 years.” That’s how long it took college “brands” to build themselves, Delaney said. “It’s not about any 17- or 18-year-old who demands, ‘I want to be paid for play,’” Delaney said. (TIME: After Video Game Settlement, NCAA Is Last Defendant Standing If the NCAA doesn’t bend their rules, the courts may provide some relief. Already, EA Sports — maker of popular NCAA-branded video games — and the Collegiate Licensing Company have settled the claim in the “O’Bannon” lawsuit that the companies profited off the likeness of current and former players, without fairly compensating them.  The parties settled for $40 million. Still, if college players want better financial, health, workers’ compensation and educational benefits, they need to keep fighting. Though the APU statements are a noteworthy first step, they lack real teeth. The players should take APU to the next … Continue reading College Athletes Need To Unionize, Now