Six current college football players have joined Ed O'Bannon's lawsuit against the NCAA, possibly putting damage claims over a billion dollars, ESPN's Outside the Lines (OTL) reported.

Arizona linebacker, Jake Fischer and kicker Jake Smith, Vanderbilt linebacker Chase Graham, Clemson cornerback Darius Robinson and Minnesota tight end Moses Alipate and wide receiver Victor Keise all joined the class action suit Thursday.

Filed in 2009, O'Bannon, a former UCLA basketball star, claimed the NCAA, EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Co. broke anti-trust laws by using his likeness, image and name and awarded him with nothing for it.

The suit accused the NCAA of setting the amount to be paid to current and former athletes for royalties at zero. Last year, the plaintiffs amended the suit to argue that current players deserve a share of the billions of dollars of revenue brought into the NCAA with television deals.

Last month, Judge Claudia Wilken asked O'Bannon to add current players to the suit and said she would decide later in the summer whether the class of current and former players will be certified or not. If allowed, the suit would be pursued as a class action lawsuit and the group of plaintiffs could be tried as a group instead of individually.

That move would likely bring the amount of money claimed in damages into the billions.

"Honestly, I stepped forward for the future well-being, safety and health of student-athletes," Fischer said. "We have both met a ton of people since we've been here who have lingering effects from injuries, not getting a great education, not having all the capabilities or the opportunities that a regular student would have, and honestly, we would just like to try to fix that."

Fischer and Smith told Athletic Director Greg Byrne and Rich Rodriguez, the University of Arizona head football coach, they would be joining the lawsuit and they both commended the students.

"Jake and Jake came to my house the other day and talked to me about the case and their involvement," he said. "They're two conscientious guys, and they're both really appreciative of playing college ball. It's not like they're disenchanted with the system. They love being student-athletes. But with the likeness issue, they wanted to see if they could have a voice for college athletes, and I said I support that.

Michael Hausfield, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs also commended the new group of current collegiate athletes to join the suit.

"These athletes are incredibly brave," he said. "They are well-aware of the risks of standing up to the NCAA, and yet they felt that this was the right thing to do."

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said the collegiate sports association would not comment until they have fully reviewed the amended lawsuit. She said the business relationship the NCAA had with EA Sports was just for the logo and name.

"Student-athletes were never a part of this relationship and plaintiffs' attorneys know it," she said in a statement. "Further, the $545,000 paid annually to the NCAA for the use of the logo and name goes right back to support student-athletes across all three divisions."