Athletes file objections arguing for walk-ons and against roster limits in NCAA House settlement

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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A walk-on football player at Stanford and a gymnast at Temple have filed objections to the proposed lawsuit settlement that's set to reshape college sports, arguing proposed roster limits and back payments directed to scholarship players are unfair elements in the sweeping legal action that's set for its final hearing this spring.

David Kasemervisz, who played four seasons at Stanford as a "preferred walk-on," said language in the House settlement that calls for former players to receive $2.8 billion in back pay for name, image and likeness payments they did not receive before those payments were allowed should include athletes like himself and not just those who received scholarships.

“It is not fair that athletic scholarship status alone determines that one player’s NIL on the field is worth significant broadcast compensation, whereas the teammate alongside him in the same game is worth nothing,” Kasemervisz wrote to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, while asking to speak at the court hearing scheduled for April 7.

Gymnast Emma Reathaford also asked to speak at the hearing, saying proposed roster limits in the settlement “will harm thousands of student-athletes who have committed to Division I sports teams and will be cut from those teams.”

The roster limits could increase the number of scholarships available but that would potentially come at the expense of dozens of walk-on spots that currently go to athletes whose positions could be eliminated by the limits.

An objection filed by seven former and current players in October, and reported on by Sportico, argued the settlement — which gives schools the option to pay up to $20.5 million next school year directly to players — sets payments below market value and is an artificial restraint.

Objections to the settlement are allowed through Friday.