Sign the Petition to Protect the Health and Safety of College Athletes
This past Saturday, a number of college football players from Georgia, Georgia Tech and Northwestern wrote the letters APU on the gear they wore during televised games. APU stands for "All Players United" and is a campaign just launched by the National College Players Association ( NCPA ). The NCPA is advocating for reforms to college football and other sports sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) that would protect the health and safety of college athletes and give players a fair share of the millions of licensing dollars the schools earn through the use of representations of the players.
As a key component of the campaign, NCPA launched a petition on Saturday. The goals of the petition are:
- Demonstrate unity among college athletes and fans from different campuses seeking NCAA reform.
- Show support for the players who joined concussion lawsuits against the NCAA, which could force the NCAA to finally take meaningful steps to minimize brain trauma in contact sports and provide resources for current and former players suffering with brain injuries.
- Show support for the players who stepped up in the O’Bannon v. NCAA, EA Sports lawsuit regarding the use of players' images/likeliness, which could unlock billions of dollars in resources for current, future and former players.
- Stand behind individual players being harmed by NCAA rules.
- Direct a portion of more than $1 billion in new TV revenue to guarantee basic protections:
- Guarantee scholarship renewals for permanently injured players;
- Ensure injured players are not stuck with sports-related medical bills;
- Increase scholarships by $3,000 to $5,000 to cover the full cost of attendance;
- Minimize brain trauma in contact sports; and
- Establish an educational lockbox (trust fund) to increase graduation rates.
Sign the petition and support the All Players United goals .
The petition reads:
I’m joining players and fans from campuses across the nation to stand against unjust NCAA rules that leave college athletes without basic protections. Players should not be forced to forfeit their rights and endure unnecessary physical, academic, and financial risks as a condition of participating in NCAA sports.
You also can show solidarity by adding the APU logo to your Facebook or Twitter profile picture.
