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When Colorado star Travis Hunter absorbed a brutal late hit and was sent to the hospital during the Buffaloes' nationally televised game against Colorado State on Sept. 16, the college football world wondered not only about his immediate health, but about his long-term career. The dynamic and versatile Hunter, whom coach Deion Sanders deemed a potential No. 1 NFL draft pick at either wide receiver or defensive back, suddenly seemed at risk of losing millions of future dollars. And while NCAA athletes of Hunter's caliber are often insured to hedge against a potentially life-altering moment like this one, Hunter wasn't.
Hunter, Sportico has learned, is still in the process of obtaining permanent total disability and critical injury coverage, income protection that has become increasingly common among the sport's best NFL prospects. The 20-year-old, who plays both offense and defense, continues to be sidelined from a lacerated liver caused by the hit.
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According to multiple people familiar with the situation, neither Hunter nor any other Colorado Buffaloescollege football's current viral story thanks to the reality-show allure of their head coachwere covered prior to the Colorado State game. That included quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Deion's son, a potential top-10 pick in next year's NFL Draft.
It is unclear to what extent Hunter or his representatives have explored insurance options on his own.
While it is ultimately the athlete's decision whether to obtain insurance, schools generally work to facilitate policies for their top football and basketball players, and often finance the premiums. Colorado, like a number of other FBS schools, has contracted over the last few years with an athlete injury insurance consultant, David Brookbank, who works with brokers and cover holders to present policy options to insurable players.
However, sources say, at Deion Sanders' behest, Hunter and Sheduer Sanders have eschewed Brookbank's services to instead work directly with one particular broker: Matthew Vuckovich of Paradigm Gilbert, a California-based insurance agency that is relatively unknown in the world of college sports. The firm is currently being sued by a former MLB pitcher over a $10 million policy that failed to pay out.
Using Paradigm Gilbert, Shedeur Sanders, according to those sources, was eventually insured ahead of last weekend's loss at Oregon, while two other playerswide receivers Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr.were bound with coverage this week, using another broker that had a preexisting relationship with the school. Colorado says it is paying for all three policies and appears to be willing to pay for Hunter, who is currently working through the application process with Paradigm Gilbert. Historically, insurance companies will not cover an injured athlete until they have been cleared to play.
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The underlying permanent total disability (PTD) policy pays out in the event an athlete suffers a career-ending injury that is not excluded from the terms. Critical injury (CI) coverage, which has gained increasing popularity in recent years, offers protection to athletes projected to land within a certain range of the NFL Draft.
If insured players suffer specific injuries that require surgery or lead to disablement for certain time periods, the benefits are triggered. Typically, ailments such as high-grade ligament tears, torn rotator cuffs or heart attacks can lead to $250,000 in benefits.
The Colorado spokesperson, who, on account of educational privacy laws, declined to identify the specific players covered, said as of Thursday the school was paying for two $2 million PTD policies with $250,000 critical riders, and one $5 million PTD policy with a $250,000 CI rider. (Shedeur Sanders is currently considered to be a better NFL prospect than Weaver or Horn.)
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While Hunter is still uninsured, sources say he is expected to have a policy in place before he returns to the field. The consequence of having waited is that his liver injury will almost assuredly be excluded from any PTD he signs now, according to insurance experts. Even if he had CI coverage going into the Colorado State game, the liver injury he suffered may not have counted toward a payout. (In any case, it would have been covered under PTD.)
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While it wasn't necessarily unusual for Hunter to go into the season without an underlying PTD policy at the start of the seasongiven the fact the sophomore is not draft-eligible this yearindustry experts describe it as a major oversight that he had not been immediately insured following his breakout performance in Colorado's 45-42 upset victory over then No. 17-ranked TCU on Sep. 3.
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Lloyd's of London also took note, according to sources, agreeing to underwrite millions of dollars more of coverage for both players in the event they suffered career-ending injuries.
And yet, they continued to be uninsured in Colorado's next two games, at home against Nebraska on Sept. 9 and against Colorado State a week later, when Hunter was hospitalized following the controversial late hit in the first quarter.
Outside my bailiwick but is this much ado about nothing? Or not?