WHITLEY
saying Reid is an ungrateful turncoat to a program that nurtured him from Haines City obscurity to the NFL draft board.
Sorry, but it’s not that black-or-white.
“Jah is not the type of guy that’s doing it for the purpose of, ‘Oh, I hate my university!’” said his attorney, Mark Bloom.
He apparently is the type of guy who hates to be used, even if it is just by his university.
Schools have been plastering pictures of their NFL alums forever in media guides and other promotional material. UCF’s brochure showed two photos of Reid in a UCF uniform and one in a Chiefs uniform.
But under them was the caption, “Come to camp and have the chance to earn an offer like Jah Reid.”
“That’s different than putting on your website former player in the NFL,” Bloom said. “That’s a statement. That’s not an offer. That’s not making money off that.
“This camp is used for commercial purposes.”
In other words, Frost is making money off Reid, who isn’t getting a dime.
You could argue that’s how the college system has always operated, but Reid hasn’t been under the NCAA’s amateurism rules since 2010.
The right of ex-athletes to be compensated fueled ex-UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon’s well-publicized lawsuit against the NCAA. O’Bannon won, but the ruling left a lot open to interpretation.
If Reid’s lawsuit proceeds it could reignite the issue and potentially impact how every school publicizes ex-athletes.
Bloom said he attempted to settle things amicably but got nowhere. UCF isn’t commenting on the lawsuit, but it has denied any wrongdoing.
UCF apparently feels it has the rights to capitalize off athletes’ likenesses in perpetuity. As such, it could put up billboards featuring Daunte Culpepper that reads, “Come to Rise & Conquer Football Camps and Have a Chance to Earn a $102-Million Contract.”
I’m no lawyer, but that would seem to violate Florida Statute 540.08.
“No person shall publish, print, display or otherwise use for purposes of trade or for any commercial or advertising purpose the name, portrait, photograph, or other likeness of any natural person without express written or oral consent.”
That law no longer applies 40 years after the person dies. Sadly, Reid is already dead to a lot of UCF fans.
My guess is whoever was in charge of making the brochure figured it was OK to use the picture of an ex-player, which would be understandable. But somewhere in the chain of command, somebody should have seen a potential problem and contacted Reid.
If he’d slammed down the phone or demanded $200,000, fans would have had every right to call Reid a greedy turncoat.
But permission was never sought, so he has every right to be in a less than forgiving mood.