The Wild West days of NIL will be resolved by something other than frontier justice.
Via John Talty of CBSSports.com, Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada has sued Florida coach Billy Napier and others over a $13.85 million NIL deal gone bad.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday. Rashada is represented by Rusty Hardin, who also represents Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson in lingering civil litigation over alleged misconduct during massage sessions.
Rashada claims that he had a $9.5 million NIL deal to attend Miami, and that Florida employees and boosters continued to pursue him. He eventually agreed to a $13.85 million deal to go to Florida. The deal eventually fell apart a day after a $500,000 signing bonus was due.
“The collective never had the money and yet they were making all of these promises to the kid,” Hardin told CBSSports.com. “You dangle life-changing, generation-changing money in front of a 19-year-old kid, who grew up without it, you can’t expect that young person to not be affected by it. The bargaining power is totally unequal here.”
Rashada claims that Napier was involved in promises made to get him to go to Florida. He eventually went to Arizona State with no NIL deal. He has since transferred to Georgia.
The lawsuit includes claims for fraudulent misrepresentation and inducement, aiding and abetting fraud, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference with a business relationship or contract, and aiding and abetting tortious interference.
It’s no surprise. With money flowing freely as part of the NIL economy, there will be deals gone bad. There also will be litigation, which often happens when deals go bad.
The civil justice system provides a very real form of regulation where there otherwise is none. Whether contract claims or tort claims or some of both, athletes will be able to use the courts to get fair treatment when promises are broken. Athletes need to remember that the door swings both ways; the same laws that protect athletes apply to them, too.
