By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
Former Texas A&M football preferred walk-on Kwame Etwi has filed an informal objection to the House vs. NCAA settlement over its calculation of BNIL damages, adding his voice to those unhappy with how the estimated payouts will be distributed. As defined in litigation, BNIL refers to the use of an athlete’s NIL through broadcasts.
In his letter addressed to Judge Claudia Wilken, who will hold a final approval hearing on the proposed settlement on April 7, Etwi takes issue with the distribution of compensation between athletes who never got playing time or medically retired and those who received playing time for the majority of their careers. He writes that the former two categories of player will receive,
“tens of thousands of dollars simply because they received a scholarship. Meanwhile, athletes like me, who actively contributed on the field throughout our entire collegiate athletic careers and bore the financial burden of tuition, receive nothing. This exclusion dismisses the value of on-field contributions and creates an inequity that fails to recognize the sacrifices and commitments of active roster walk-on athletes who met the same demands, adhered to the same rigorous schedules, and upheld the same standards as scholarship athletes.”
Sam Erlich, an associate professor at Boise State, posted Etwi’s full letter on social media. Etwi explains that he had Division I offers but chose to play for a more “dominant” school, Texas A&M. He was not awarded a full Grant-in-Aid (GIA) scholarship at Texas A&M and is exclude from receiving BNLI settlement money under the definition of eligible players in the proposed settlement.
Another athlete informal objection has been filed to the House v. NCAA docket, this time by former Texas A&M football player Kwame Etwi.
Etwi is objecting to the way that BNIL damages are to be calculated under the settlement proposal’s terms. pic.twitter.com/pn7ZYl1mfG
— Sam C. Ehrlich (@samcehrlich) January 7, 2025
The estimated House settlement payouts will be distributed very differently between football players and swimmers if the settlement is approved; football and men’s basketball players are expected to receive the majority of distributed funds. However, some swimmers are also unhappy with the estimated distribution amounts they were sent in the last month.
One NCAA swimming champion who shared their estimated House settlement payout with SwimSwam had similar issues as Etwi. The swimmer told SwimSwam they were given a similar compensation estimate to their teammates who did not have as much success in the pool.
Other swimmers who have voiced their critiques of the settlement recently include an Auburn freshman who added a letter to the House vs. NCAA docket opposing roster limits, which would replace scholarship caps in an approved settlement. Rice argues in his letter, sent this week, that roster limits should apply to incoming athletes and that current NCAA athletes should be “grandfathered in.”
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Former Aggie Football Player Kwame Etwi Files Informal Objection To House vs. NCAA Settlement