Players United

If you watched college football on Saturday, perhaps you noticed the some players from University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Northwestern were sporting wristbands with “APU” on them. That stands for “All Players United”, and the wristbands represent the first televised protest by NCAA football players. The players are protesting the NCAA’s failure to adequately address the risk of traumatic head injuries and current policy that allows the cancellation of scholarships following injury. Josh Eidelson spoke to Ramogi Huma, the founder of the National College Players Association:

After decades of scattered discontent, why is the first-of-its-kind on-camera protest happening now? “I think the environment is a lot different than it was in the ‘90s,” Huma told Salon. He cited increasing criticism of the NCAA from figures in media, sports and politics, as well as the NCAA’s historic high revenues: “The money has skyrocketed, and that visibly increases the disparity [between] what the players are generating and the gaps in protection they face.”

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