With some scratching their heads on how far Alabama can go with a backup quarterback, but on Monday Tua Tagovailoa’s hip injury has brought up another interesting conversation on a different topic.
Money.
Darren Rovell of The Action Network reported on Monday that the insurance Tagovailoa received from the University of Alabama does not include a loss-of-value policy. This means that he will not be protected from losing millions of dollars if his draft value drops off.
More specifically a player will be able to collect a certain percentage of however much money was lost depending on where in the draft said player is projected to be selected.
Rovell reports that Tagovailoa and his family decided to only take the insurance which was offered to them by the university. Currently, Tagovailoa will be covered if doctors deem that he has suffered a career-ending injury.
“I could not imagine a better partner than The University of Alabama throughout this situation,” Tua’s father Galu Tagovailoa told The Action Network. “They have communicated with us every step of the way during Tua’s time at Alabama, both on and off the football field.
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We had numerous discussions regarding insurance coverage, and we have been very comfortable with how Alabama has worked with our family at every turn. The most important thing for us right now is getting Tua healthy, and his focus is getting back with his teammates.”
According to Rovell, Alabama has not agreed to pay for loss of value “for any of its players due to the policy’s cost compared to the percentage of players who actually collect” in recent memory.
“In consultation with industry experts, loss of value has not been shown to consistently benefit student-athletes who file a claim,” Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne told The Action Network. “If you have loss of value, you still have the opportunity to have a successful professional career.
One of the reasons we go with permanent total disability is to protect the student-athletes should they not be able to play again, in which case they have no ability to make any future earnings through their sport professionally. In the event of injury, we utilize our resources through health care and rehab to help them increase their draft value.”
Despite Tagovailoa taking the insurance offered by the school, he can still receive the loss-of-value policy with his own money.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
