High school football player’s family suing NC over being denied access to NIL opportunity

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The mother of a Greensboro high school quarterback is suing the state of North Carolina over lack of NIL access for her son.

Rolanda Brandon, whose son is Grimsley High School quarterback Faizon Brandon, filed a complaint last week in Wake County Superior Court. The case was filed by Mike Ingersoll, a Charlotte-based attorney with the firm Womble Bond Dickinson.

Ingersoll provided a statement to The Observer on behalf of the Faizon family:

“The State Board of Education was asked to create rules allowing public high school athletes to use their NIL— it was not empowered to ban it,” the statement reads. “We look forward to correcting the State Board’s error and to help our client benefit from the incredible value and opportunities his hard work and commitment have created for his name, image, and likeness.”

NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said the association “does not have a comment on the lawsuit regarding Name, Image, and Likeness as it is not involved in the lawsuit. Additionally, the NCHSAA has neither rule nor policy regarding NIL, as that authority lies with the State Board of Education.”

Brandon, a University of Tennessee commit, is the No. 1 ranked player nationally in the class of 2026, according to 247 Sports.

The lawsuit asks the court to allow North Carolina high school athletes access to profits from NIL. The State Board of Education should not be able to regulate use of name, image and likeness by public school athletes, the lawsuit states.

This fall, N.C. private school athletes were allowed to begin profiting off NIL. Providence Day’s David Sanders, for example, signed deals with a national nutrition brand and a local health and wellness company. He also has a website selling branded sports apparel.

Ban on NIL in NC public schools?

In the lawsuit, Rolanda Brandon claims that when the N.C. Board of Education banned public school students from profiting off NIL earlier this year it “exceeded its authority” under a Senate Bill providing it governance over high school athletics.

Further, it says the decision “harmed (Faizon Brandon) — widely regarded as the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in his class — by unlawfully restricting his right to freely use his NIL, which he and he alone owns, thereby jeopardizing his ability to capitalize on life-changing opportunities currently available to him and provide himself and his family with financial security.”

Addendums to the lawsuit appear to show an NIL offer sent to Faizon Brandon to sign autographs at events beginning in May 2024 until he graduated next June.

A series of letters between lawyers representing Brandon and Allison Schafer, general counsel for the State Board of Education also is included in the suit. In a response, Schafer said the current rule preventing NIL for public school athletes is a temporary one for the 2024-25 school year.

“The (State Board) now must go through permanent rule-making on the NIL question,” Schafer wrote in a response sent last month. “This is cumbersome and lengthy legislatively required process that takes approximately one year. In the coming year, the (State Board) will focus on beginning the process to adopt a permanent rule for the 2025-26 school year and beyond.”

Friday night, Grimsley played its season-opener, beating Mount Tabor 34-12. Brandon, starting his junior season, completed 17 of 22 passes for 113 yards. He rushed eight times for 22 yards.

Grimsley plays at state power Rolesville on Friday in one of the top matchups in North Carolina.