Kain Colter and Northwestern won an early court decision Wednesday for the potential right to unionize as student-athletes. (AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — The Northwestern football team's first minor victory in earning the right to unionize Wednesday hit close to home at Rutgers, where senior David Milewski thought about how it could impact his lengthy medical history.

"I know the basics of what they're fighting for," Milewski said. "From what I understand, they weren't fighting for money, but they were fighting for medical benefits for the future. I think that's a worthy battle to fight. Personally speaking, with my ACL injuries I'm probably looking at some kind of knee replacement. Who knows with insurance what's going to happen. My hat goes off to those guys. It takes a lot of courage to be the first team to do that. We're going to continue to see."

The preliminary ruling currently only affects NCAA student-athletes at private schools. But the right to potentially establish a collective bargaining agreement for profits and medical benefits has repercussions across the country.

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Milewski suffered season-ending knee injuries in 2010 and 2011 and spent the entire next season rehabbing. He returned in 2013, posting 35 tackles and two sacks.

He doesn't expect the next wave of activism to come from Rutgers.

"Transitioning to the Big Ten, I think that's where our focus needs to be," Milewski said. "We can't worry about those kinds of things. We have enough on our heads as it is."