Schools Paying For Stars' Insurance

[HuskerinBig10]

Can the player afford to buy the insurance on their own? No.

But the school tells the player if they come back to play, the school will "help" buy them an insurance policy. If the family cannot come up with money, there is a deep pocketed donor very close by or as the NCAA calls it, a bank.

The pitch to the student is, "Hey, come back and play for our team!! We need you and we make a TON of money via TV appearances and fans coming to the games. Plus, we get free media attention and our donors love it. BTW, you, the player, get nothing, but if you get hurt, why heck, we have helped pay for this insurance policy on you and you might not be able to walk or talk, but you will have money. But it won't cost you or your parents any money. Don't you want to be able to take care of your parents if you get hurt?"

The school is enticing the player by BUYING them something that the player and his family could not afford. The school is basically protecting its self interest and really doesn't care about the player. $60,000 compared to the millions they make because the player is still there, is a drop in the bucket.

Witness what Clowney did last year. He somehow bought insurance but saw that if he got hurt, his insurance policy was not going to be as much as his draft money. So, he really did not play that well in the beginning of the year. He was worried about being hurt.

This is a Corporate Owned Life Insurance Policy where the university is decidely benefiting by having the star player come back. The school will be hurt(financially) if the player does not come back so they do this legal bribe.

Why doesn't the school offer this insurance to the really smart kids with high grades? You know, the ones that might get a really good job and be a big donor? Because there is zero short term gain in it for the school.

This insurance thing, which has been around since 1990, is just a form of payment to the star players, but it is going under another name.

If it looks like a badger, and walks like a badger, and growls like a badger, guess what, it's a badger.

 

[Jonny Valtimore]

Can the player afford to buy the insurance on their own? No.

But the school tells the player if they come back to play, the school will "help" buy them an insurance policy. If the family cannot come up with money, there is a deep pocketed donor very close by or as the NCAA calls it, a bank.

The pitch to the student is, "Hey, come back and play for our team!! We need you and we make a TON of money via TV appearances and fans coming to the games. Plus, we get free media attention and our donors love it. BTW, you, the player, get nothing, but if you get hurt, why heck, we have helped pay for this insurance policy on you and you might not be able to walk or talk, but you will have money. But it won't cost you or your parents any money. Don't you want to be able to take care of your parents if you get hurt?"

The school is enticing the player by BUYING them something that the player and his family could not afford. The school is basically protecting its self interest and really doesn't care about the player. $60,000 compared to the millions they make because the player is still there, is a drop in the bucket.

Witness what Clowney did last year. He somehow bought insurance but saw that if he got hurt, his insurance policy was not going to be as much as his draft money. So, he really did not play that well in the beginning of the year. He was worried about being hurt.

This is a Corporate Owned Life Insurance Policy where the university is decidely benefiting by having the star player come back. The school will be hurt(financially) if the player does not come back so they do this legal bribe.

Why doesn't the school offer this insurance to the really smart kids with high grades? You know, the ones that might get a really good job and be a big donor? Because there is zero short term gain in it for the school.

This insurance thing, which has been around since 1990, is just a form of payment to the star players, but it is going under another name.

If it looks like a badger, and walks like a badger, and growls like a badger, guess what, it's a badger.

Because opening books has not shown the long-term career risk that playing division 1 NCAA football has?