Oh this is rich...
Oscar Robertson is asked to affix his autograph to various items every day and he recently discovered a new one being pushed in front of him by fans – trading cards featuring him as a player at the University of Cincinnati. Some come with a swath of his "game jersey" attached. Others have him in his freshman number, 22.
This was not a product he recalled approving for his likeness to be used. He tried calling the trading card companies (Upper Deck, Donruss) for an explanation yet couldn’t get a response.
The answer was the NCAA had signed licensing deals with the companies without Robertson’s direct consent. The association maintains it has the right to control a player’s likeness in perpetuity.
In the case of the 72-year-old Big O, that means 51 years and counting. He left UC in 1960.
"The arrogance of the NCAA to say, ‘we have the right to do this,’ … is what troubles me the most," Robertson told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday. "The University of Cincinnati gets a fee each time my picture is used on a card. I don’t. When I played there, there was nothing like this ever agreed to."
Go figure.
Sooner or later the NCAA is going to get theirs...
Its only a matter of time.