College football players at 17 private universities, including Notre Dame, are employees and entitled to advocate for safer practice conditions and sharing in profits generated by their games, according to a memorandum issued Tuesday by the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.
This determination sounds as if it would cause a cataclysmic ripple effect among all Notre Dame Fighting Irish athletics. But Fort Wayne-based labor lawyer Tony Stites said the memo - which is not law - was written by “a lame duck head of the National Labor Relations Board who is trying to leave a stamp on his legacy or time in office.