I'm personally tired of seeing guys listed as 4-year letter winners.... we all know that to get a "letter" you just have to show up and not get in trouble. Basically everyone on the team has them. Bench players for Mercer who barely saw the floor were 4 year letter winners. It's a filler entry into almost every player profile and it's totally lost whatever meaning it might have had in the past. The idea of them is great -- if they actually took some sort of achievement to "win".

eh, it's just a synonym for "team members" as you say and it sounds a little more impressive.