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Fisher Vollendorf
UWRT
Professor Kaufman
There are approximately 460,000 student-athletes today, these 460,000 are spread about
24 sports. Every one of these sports comes with a risk. Every time an athlete laces up his or her
shoes they put their body on the line. All too often one of these athletes falls to the ground in
agonizing pain. We can watch them roll around the field in distress. We keep up with their
progress as they perform therapy and various medical treatments. But what happens to the
athletes once they graduate is far less known. Does the college continue to pay the medical
expenses of the student they once paid to come to their school? Are they simply cast out and left
on their own?
Pain and trauma simply does not cease to exist just because you walked across that stage
in cap and gown. As a student-athlete myself, this research journey really hits home as it could
happen to either me or anyone of my friends. I do not know much about the subject other than a
few friends who have gone through the unfortunate scenario of being injured while playing
college sports.
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My friend James played soccer at a small college in Georgia. He had a successful career
but decided to not turn professional. However, during his time in school he suffered several
painful knee injuries. They have continued to bother him years after. He even recently
underwent surgery to repair some of the damage. His school didn’t cover the expenses as he was
no longer a student-athlete for them. This story jump started my research to find out more about
specific injuries and how they affect the body long term. By nature some sports are far more
dangerous than others. Obviously golf will not put me in danger for any serious injury. While
some back and neck pain is expected, it will not alter my life in anyway. This is far different than
a football player who risks long term brain damage with every play of the game.
91% of college football players studied have been found to have chronic traumatic
encephalopathy or CTE. This brain disease is caused by repeated traumatic head blows. This
disease causes depression, memory loss, anxiety, many other problems; In extreme cases it has
lead to suicide. I chose this specific research point to start as it is by far the most dangerous
common injury in college sports. Life-altering injuries are very real and very scary to face on
your own as a 19 year old. You would hope that colleges will do all they can to assist their
student athletes.
The New York Times did a piece on how colleges have a wide array of health insurance
for their student athletes. Some athletes have found themselves owing upwards of $50,000. The
core problem is that to insure a single student-athlete would cost an institution close to six figures.
Even a member of the NCAA legislative council states, “The only way to increase coverage
institutions.” Some schools such as Middlebury College have accident insurance paid for all their
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athletes. “Ethically I think it’s the right thing to do,” says the school’s compliance director.
However, not all schools believe that their athletes are worth the financial burden. The University
of Ohio had a football player named Jason Whitehead who was hurt so badly during a workout
that he was temporarily paralyzed. Once his surgery was complete, he was told that his career
was over. This wasn’t the only bad news he got. He also lost his scholarship, and was left with
thousands to pay off by himself. He actually believed that the bills were behind him until he tried
to purchase a car and found that he had $1,800 of bills to be paid. This is one of the many
examples that show how some colleges have left their athletes out to dry after they were injured
competing for the very school that they believed cared for them.
It seems that the health insurance plans vary quite a bit from school to school. However,
in my research it seems that more often than not once the athlete leaves the school they are left
with whatever bills the school didn’t cover. There is more research to be done, but for now it
seems like the NCAA will not pay for a student’s health problems not only when they leave
The National College Players Association is fighting for the NCAA to go to greater
lengths to protect their athletes. One member of the NCPA, Ramogi Huma, says “their top
priority is not to do right by the players, it’s to do right by the schools and maximize profits and
exposure for member institutions.” Every athlete realizes the risk of their respective sport. Yet,
the Nation Collegiate Athletic Association doesn’t have the backs of their student-athletes.
College sports create a lot of money for numerous people. There are 231 Division 1
schools in the NCAA program. Business Insider found these 231 schools created $9.15 billion in
revenue during the 2015 fiscal year. While this is a lot of money, the amount each school
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generates greatly varies. 44% of schools make less than $20 million while the University of
Texas and Texas A&M create around $180 million. This means that if a school was to pay for
health coverage for their athletes then the coverage would vary by school. It isn’t fair for a
“non-athlete” student to have to pay for an athlete’s healthcare through their tuition, so likely the
money would come from the athletic program. Again, this is an extreme commitment for the
school to take care of their athletes like this. Yet there seems to be enough money being made so
understable that college athletes are a second thought to most people. Athletes are just a fraction
of a percent of total undergraduates. The physical risks they take for themselves and their school
are almost ridiculous to think about. As I covered earlier in the project, schools estimate that one
student-athlete would require a number in six figures. Yet, there is a possible solution to the
money issue.
Celebrities will sometimes insure parts of their body so that if damage occurs to their
image they will be compensated for the losses. It is possible that schools could cover certain
injuries or body parts that occur in various sports. This way a school can conserve resources
while still protecting the students from the most likely injuries. As an example, an ACL tear
during the course of a soccer career is quite common. An ACL tear in a swimmer or golfer is
highly unlikely. The athletic program could purchase coverage for specific injuries per sport.
There are some obvious holes in the proposal. Freak accidents are bound to happen and
unfortunately would not be covered. Yet, for the sake of resources this is the least a college can
do.
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In conclusion, colleges have a wide array of beliefs and procedures about how to handle
the injuries of their college athletes. There isn’t a simple answer to the question of “are
information that is available to review. Much of the information that has been reported has been
from the student-athlete’s perspective. The NCAA doesn’t release reports on how injuries and the
payments are handled. This creates a situation where only one side of the story is in the media.
There have been hundreds of thousands of athletes who have enjoyed their collegiate
career without serious injury and go on to live without regrets of their athletic experience. The
cases used in this study are very rare and almost never happen. It would be ignorant to not realize
that most people do not suffer horrific injuries. It would be very costly for any school to cover
their athletes for a one-in-a-million incident. It is only the horror stories that are newsworthy.
College athletes understand the risk they take when they step on the field. However,
nobody thinks that they could be paralyzed during the course of play. It is always the thing that
should happen to “someone else.” However, it is always a possibility. It is important to plan for
the worst but hope for the best. All the athlete can do is measure their love of the game against
References
National College Players Association. (No date provided). NCPA Mission. Mission and Goals.
Retrieved from https://www.ncpanow.org/mission-and-goals
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Lepage, C. (2018, May 19). Limbic system structure volumes and associated neurocognitive
functioning in former nfl players. Brain Imaging and Behavior. Retrieved from
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11682-018-9895-z.pdf
Moran, B. (2017, July 24). CTE Found in 99 percent of former NFL players studied. Retrieved
from https://www.bu.edu/research/articles/cte-former-nfl-players/
Peterson, K. (2009, July 15). College athletes stuck with the bill after injuries. New York Times.
Retreived from https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/sports/16athletes.html
Wedro, B. (2018, March 20). Anterior cruciate ligament tear. Medicine Net.
https://www.medicinenet.com/torn_acl/article.htm#torn_anterior_cruciate_ligament_acl_f
acts
Gains, C. (2016, October 14). The difference in how much money schools make off of college
sports is jarring, and it is the biggest obstacle to paying athletes. Business Insider.
Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/ncaa-schools-college-sports-revenue-2016-10