A U.S. district judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that former Michigan football players who competed for the university before 2016 lost money during their college careers over their names, images and likenesses, according to court documents filed Friday.

The federal lawsuit filed in September 2024 listed former players Braylon Edwards, Denard Robinson, Mike Martin and Shawn Crable as four of the plaintiffs, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Big Ten Network and Big Ten Conference as defendants.

"While today, it is accepted and understood that current college football players are allowed to be compensated monetarily, especially for using their name, image, and likeness (sometimes referred to as "NIL"), players were wrongfully and unlawfully prevented from doing so for decades," the lawsuit said. "The NCAA knew it was wrong but still continued to profit."

The court document went on to say that the defendants' use of NIL without the players' consent or paying them was "clear antitrust injury," meaning it was unfair to the former players and harmed them. 

The lawsuit listed 20 examples of compensatory damages that it said the former Wolverines should be paid for, including the "lost market value of their NIL rights," suppressed earnings from endorsements, missed opportunities for media appearances, use of likeness in merchandise, archived footage and highlight reels and lost licensing opportunities.

The defendants in January filed the motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the claims are "time-barred," meaning the time limit for bringing a lawsuit had passed. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg agreed with the defendants and granted the motion. 

Livonia, Michigan, attorney Jim Acho, who is representing the players, told CBS News Detroit his clients plan to appeal the ruling.

"I had a lot of success with the NFL concussion cases," Acho said. "Many of those had to be won on appeal. Sometimes you need to go through the appellate process to get justice. We are confident in our position and we absolutely believe we are in the right."

Note: The above video first aired on Sept. 11, 2024.