How Active Players Are Protesting The NCAA Today

A small group of players scattered across college football are protesting the NCAA by wearing the letters "APU" on their uniforms today. The letters stand for All Players United, a slogan created by the player advocacy group National Collegiate Players Association.

According to NCPA director Ramogi Huma, the impetus for the APU statements was the criticism brought against a group of current NCAA athletes who joined the O'Bannon name and likeness suit against the NCAA, Electronic Arts and Collegiate Licensing Co. this summer.

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Huma told USA TODAY Sports that a separate group of current athletes who sit on the NCPA's board brainstormed came up with the APU idea to show solidarity and support. "That was the catalyst, and from there players really started thinking about the types of things they wanted to support," Huma said. "Concussions is the highest priority. There are serious health and safety issues they feel the NCAA is ignoring.

In addition to showing support for the concussion and O'Bannon lawsuits, the campaign hopes to force the NCAA to earmark a portion of over $1 billion in new TV revenue to protect injured players from getting stuck with high medical bills from sports-related injuries, guarantee scholarship renewals for permanently injured athletes and increase scholarships to fully cover the cost of attendance.

Among the players joining the protest are Georgia Tech quarterback Vad Lee (pictured above), Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter and most of the Georgia offensive line. It does not sound like this will be a one-day thing, either. Huma told USA Today that they players will protest "until the NCAA changes its rules."

Photo credit: Getty

College teams wear 'APU' in organized protest of NCAA [USA Today]