With the NFL draft happening today, I figured it would be a good time to discuss high limit disability insurance for athletes. Disability insurance for athletes is something that every professional player should have due to extremely high risk the world’s best athletes take when they enter the playing field. Like any other high income profession, athletes spend countless hours of their life getting to where they are today.
There are several examples in recent years where athletes suffer catastrophic injuries, but one from last year is stands out above the rest. It involved Packers tight end, Jermichael Finley on a brutal hit across the middle of the field. After the crushing tackle Green Bay Packer’s star tight end Jermichael Finley was admitted to the ICU. He questioned his neurosurgeon, “Will I walk again?” His definitive answer, “Yes, you are moving your legs right now.” He asks, “Will I play football again?” to that question, he simply got, “I cannot answer that yet.”
Diagnosed with a contusion to the spinal cord, Finley provides a powerful first person account of the event and the mental relief provided by maintaining a $10,000,000 disability policy.
This is Finley’s statement after the potentially career ending collision: “As athletes, we often feel invincible, which is why it is so important to have advisors who you can trust and who can also take the emotion out of any situation. I don’t feel the pressure that I see many athletes do because I’ve taken their advice. I currently have a $10 million insurance policy in place. If this injury prevents me from ever playing football again, I will be able to collect on $10 million tax-free. For me, this is the equivalent of making another $16 million or $17 million in pre-tax salary. While money has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to play, I can sleep at night knowing that regardless of what happens, my family is financially secure forever—maybe the biggest odds I’ll ever overcome.
Disability insurance is never a fun conversation, and writing those annual checks to protect myself is tough. But now, more than ever, I understand the importance of protecting yourself, protecting your family, and protecting your future earnings.”