A good policy

Injury insurance eliminates worry for college players

Isn’t it refreshing when a longshot runs away with the Kentucky Derby? The Devil Rays shut out the Yankees? Tiger Woods fashions a couple ugly rounds and is sent home early?

A similar tale figures to play out this weekend in the NFL Draft, sort of.

Dewayne Robertson was never a nameless football character. You don’t start three years in the SEC, even at Kentucky, without being a terrific talent. Still, Lloyd's of London initially refused to sell Robertson an insurance policy to protect him against serious injury.

To put this in perspective, most players who’ll be selected Saturday in the opening two rounds of the draft secured insurance policies last August. Not Robertson. Lloyd's didn't finally come around on a policy for the 6-foot-1 3/8, 317-pound defensive tackle until midseason.

Now Robertson could be a top-five pick in the draft. Almost certainly a top-10 selection and, barring some last-minute moves, the first defensive lineman off the board.

“He just wasn’t projected that high at the beginning of the season," said Keith Lerner, a Gainesville, Fla., insurance agent who eventually wrote the policy. “His stock started rising as the season went on. I think he’s now going to be the top player I got, and he’s gotten the least notoriety."

Lerner has written policies for at least four other projected first rounders: junior wide receiver Andre Johnson (6-2, 220), senior defensive tackle William Joseph (6-5, 308) and sophomore running back Willis McGahee (6-0, 223) -- all University of Miami teammates -- as well as senior Georgia linebacker Boss Bailey (6-3, 233).

Looking for a clue on underclassmen most likely to leave early for the NFL? Check next summer on who’s insured. Except for Robertson, Lerner wrote policies for his clients before any played a down last August. “This is really the first step into the professional world for them," Lerner said.

Like a good agent, Lerner refuses to offer specifics on the policies. But coverage ranges from a $5 million (tax-free) policy for a projected top-five pick to $1 million for a late second rounder, with players securing loans to cover premiums of $10,000 to upwards of $50,000.

The way the business works, Lloyd's stands to lose in only two ways: The player collects after a career-ending injury or he’s over-insured, his name isn’t called on draft day and he can’t repay the loan. That’s why the insurance folks play it conservatively in writing policies, and why they were perhaps slow to come around on Robertson.

That’s also why Lerner can relax in the days and hours leading up to the draft, though a Fiesta Bowl injury to McGahee offered some anxious moments.

“We don’t have a guy with a huge insurance policy that isn’t going to be picked," said Lerner. “That’s why we sometimes start them with small amounts, because we want to be sure they’re going to be able to pay the loan back. They’ve got to be in the NFL in order to pay it back.

“I have to be concerned about the player who may not be drafted or may be an extremely low pick and doesn’t have the signing bonus money. If a guy has a $50,000 loan and he’s a top-five pick, I have no qualms about it. He got the insurance needed and he’ll pay it back."

The injury insurance business made the news earlier this year when McGahee, though only a redshirt sophomore, had the foresight to cover himself with a $2.5 million policy just days before the Fiesta Bowl. It proved to be a wise move when the Miami back tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee against Ohio State.

If McGahee isn’t sufficiently recovered to play in the NFL by next January, his insurance starts to kick in. That now seems very remote. McGahee, who worked out for NFL scouts Tuesday, projects as the draft’s top running back, which speaks volumes about his potential, his recovery so far and a lackluster running back group.

“At this point, it’s 99 percent certain that [doctors] are going to say he’ll be ready to play this next NFL season," Lerner said. “I’ve always said he’ll make more money if he can play in the National Football League. We’ll find out this Saturday."

Then, with McGahee and his other clients sure of a NFL paycheck, the insurance man can breathe a sigh of relief.

Mike Fish is a senior writer for SI.com.

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