One of the newest trends in college football is for universities to use part of the athletic department’s student assistance fund to pay for the insurance premiums on policies taken out by football players with promising NFL futures. The Oregon Ducks are the latest to do so.
Four players from Oregon -- quarterback Marcus Mariota, center Honriss Grasu, cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and defensive end Arik Armstead -- took out insurance policies for this season. Mariota, Grasu and Ekpre-Olomu did so after passing on the NFL for one more year in Eugene, Oregon. Armstead will be eligible for the NFL draft after this season, but his brother, Armond Armstead, once had to sit out an entire season due improper administration of painkillers and his family made sure to protect their younger son’s future.
The family of each of these players initially paid the premiums, because the university was worried about violating NCAA rules. Once the athletic department discovered they could use the money provided by the NCAA from the school’s student assistance fund to cover the cost, it chose to do so.
The athletic department released a statement Friday, “The UO athletic department is reimbursing four families of football players for out-of-pocket expenses related to the purchase of insurance policies for loss of future earnings in the event of an injury...”
The trend began when talented offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi was lured back to Texas A&M with the promise to provide insurance in case of injury. Florida State may have bought itself another year or two by doing the same for quarterback Jameis Winston.
The estimated amount Oregon will pay for each of the four players wasn’t revealed, but, in the cases of Ogbuehi and Winston, their estimated premiums were over $50,000. Winston’s premium may even be near $60,000.
That’s a lot of bills for these current Ducks.