Curt Flood was in the major leagues for 12 years and was essentially the property of his team, the Cardinals, until they released him or traded him. This was due to baseball's "reserve clause" a contractual restriction that first appeared in some National League contracts in 1879 (16 years after slavery was abolished).
In 1968, the professional ballplayer had no negotiating power whatsoever. His salary was at the discretion of his employer. The only limit on the employer was that the player's new salary could not be lower than his previous salary. All the players could do to negotiate was to sit out and not get paid. The Cardinals traded Flood to Philadelphia and Flood refused to report. He sued baseball and lost.
Kain Colter sought to have college football players classified as employees in order to unionize.
Flood's case is a lot easier to rally behind - because the injustice is obvious.
Kain Colter was *also* the property of his school. His only leverage was *also* to sit out a year — to transfer, if they’d let him.
He would never ever get paid — and, despite that obvious injustice — didn’t even ask to get paid. He was asking that scholarships cover all living expenses, and that medical coverage be guaranteed beyond college.
Imagine if Kain Colter’s concussion-addled brain had gotten proper medical care. Certainly, after the joy he brought Wildcat fans, he deserved the psychiatric help he so clearly needed.
NU could afford to pay Pat Fitzgerald millions, could fundraise to build a palace on the lakefront, but couldn’t ensure that students getting a “free ride” actually got a free ride — while requiring many more than 40 hours per week.
The only reason one thinks that Flood’s injustice was obvious while Colter’s was not is because Flood’s was 50 years ago and Colter’s was recent.
The injustice faced by Colter and the Cats players was obvious.
And the NCAA is so incompetent that its chosen middle men and oral contracts and complete shadiness. Still.