earlier seeking to go to arbitration<\/a> to get $390,000 from Wilson, alleging damages after the player signed an agreement to return to Athens for his junior season before entering the transfer portal a month later.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s also believed to be the first time a player and school have taken each other to court over an NIL dispute. The resolution could hinge on Wilson\u2019s argument that the NIL agreement with Georgia\u2019s collective was a binding contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorgia appears intent on making an example of someone, they just picked the wrong person,\u201d said Jeff Jensen, one of Wilson\u2019s attorneys. \u201cDamon never had a contract with them. I don\u2019t see how Georgia thinks intimidation and litigation will help their recruitment efforts \u2014 maybe players could bring lawyers with them to practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis matter involves pending litigation, and we have no comment at this time,\u201d University of Georgia Athletic Association spokesman Steven Drummond said. \u201cWe refer you to our previous statement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The backstory<\/p>\n
Wilson appeared in 26 games at Georgia from 2023 to \u201824 and was expected to be a significant contributor this season when he signed an NIL agreement last December with Georgia\u2019s Classic City Collective. The terms sheet called for him to receive $30,000 per month from December 2024 through January 2026.<\/p>\n
A month after signing the deal, he transferred to Missouri, where he led the Tigers with nine sacks. Because the agreement was contingent upon his staying at Georgia, the collective ended the deal.<\/p>\n
In October, the UGAAA filed an application to compel arbitration in Athens-Clarke County, Ga. It alleged Wilson owed $390,000 \u2014 the unpaid amount on the deal \u2014 in liquidated damages, as spelled out in the terms sheet.<\/p>\n
What Wilson\u2019s suit argues<\/p>\n
The suit alleges Georgia staffers falsely told multiple unnamed Power 4 programs that Wilson would owe the Bulldogs $1.2 million if he left. That action was \u201can effort to prevent (other schools) from offering Wilson an NIL agreement, thereby impeding his ability to obtain an NIL agreement from a competing program that was the product of free and open competition for his athletic services and NIL licensing rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also contends the Bulldogs didn\u2019t immediately put his name in the portal but instead launched an \u201call-out offensive\u201d to try to keep him at Georgia. Those acts were part of what the suit called a \u201ccivil conspiracy\u201d to interfere with Wilson\u2019s business endeavors by the suit\u2019s defendants: UGA\u2019s athletic association, the collective and its two now-former CEOs, Matt Hibbs and Tanner Potts.<\/p>\n
The suit also includes a count of interfering with Wilson\u2019s business opportunities and accuses UGA\u2019s athletic association of violating the confidentiality provision of the terms sheet by sharing its contents, including through a public court filing.<\/p>\n
Much of the complaint addresses the NIL deal itself. The suit said Wilson and several other teammates were simply told by a Bulldogs employee to go upstairs at the football building to sign the agreement during preparations for the College Football Playoff. Wilson\u2019s filing argues the deal is not enforceable because it says its terms would \u201cbe used to create a legally binding document.\u201d That document was not created. The filing also notes that the terms sheet encouraged Wilson to \u201cseek legal counsel\u201d before finalizing a full agreement. If Wilson\u2019s reading is correct, he would not owe the $390,000 the Bulldogs claim he does.<\/p>\n
Finally, the suit includes a count of defamation over a line from a Bulldogs spokesperson about expecting athletes to honor commitments. The statement, the complaint said, implies that Wilson was dishonest, which hurts his reputation.<\/p>\n
Wilson lost out on endorsement opportunities and NIL revenue and suffered emotional and mental distress caused by the Bulldogs\u2019 false claims, his attorneys allege. He\u2019s seeking a \u201cfair and reasonable amount of damages\u201d for the \u201cfinancial and reputational harm he has suffered\u201d along with legal fees.<\/p>\n
Why this case is important<\/p>\n
Georgia\u2019s filing against Wilson this fall was the first known instance of a school taking a current\/former player to court over an NIL buyout. And this complaint appears to be the first time a player has sued a school regarding an NIL deal.<\/p>\n
The closest comparison is one-time Florida signee Jaden Rashada\u2019s pending lawsuit<\/a> over a $13.85 million dispute. But he filed that against three individuals involved (including now-former Florida coach Billy Napier) and a booster\u2019s private company; the Gators have not been named as a party in the case.<\/p>\nAs the player compensation space evolves in the first year of direct revenue sharing between schools and athletes, disputes will continue to arise. Whether contracts are binding is, to some degree, an open question and affects whether players can essentially act as free agents every year. This case is one of the first, best looks into how the issue might be resolved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Georgia defensive end Damon Wilson II has sued the school\u2019s athletic association, escalating one of the messiest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[331,7,450,7206,49,48,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-623098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-georgia-bulldogs","11":"tag-missouri-tigers","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-football","14":"tag-sports-business"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115770678955267194","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}