Spurred by John Madden’s retirement from the broadcast booth, the same group of retired NFL players that successfully sued the NFL Player’s Association for likeness usage in the Madden game franchise is now targeting EA, publisher of Madden football games, in a similar dispute.

GamePolitics points to a post on Dave Pear’s Blog by NFL retiree Bernie Parrish. In it, Parrish claims, “The retired NFL players who were used in Madden EA video games will be suing Madden and EA for using us in those games without compensating us.” He added that a lawsuit is the only recourse because, “No deals are going to be made because John Madden is moving his act to his home office where he will continue to screw over the retired players without having to face the fans around the country.”

Last fall, a jury awarded the group of 2,062 retired NFL players $28 million in damages from the NFLPA for selling the likeness rights of the retired players at below market value and intentionally weakening any competition from rival publishers – that rival being Take-Two Interactive and their All-Pro Football 2K8 game.

Parish claims that Madden has collected “over $100 million in royalties” from the Madden franchise.

Parish is urging each of the plaintiffs in last year’s decision to contribute a portion of their reward to the effort.

[Via Joystiq]