Many sports fans and members of the public believe professional football players are so lucky! The players often sign large contracts to play the game they love and then their worries are over. Right? Wrong! The reality is that professional football has some of the least guaranteed contracts of any major professional sports.

Take the case of Samari Rolle for example. He is an 11 year veteran cornerback who last played for the Baltimore Ravens. Mr. Rolle signed a 4 year contract worth over $8,000,000 in 2009. Prior to the 2009 season Mr. Rolle hurt his neck and was put on the PUP List (physically unable to perform) for the 2009 season. Rumor has it that Mr. Rolle is probably going to announce his retirement this year, due to chronic neck problems.

He will be okay because he just signed a 4 year contract, one might think. Not so, because the Baltimore Ravens waived Mr. Rolle from his contract in April 2010, which allows them to not pay Mr. Rolle for the remaining 3 years of that contract. Due to his neck injury Mr. Rolle will lose out on over $7,000,000 of income because his contract was waived.

This income could have been protected with a disability insurance policy, but most likely it was not because many players think, I will never get sick or hurt or I dont want to waste the money. We hope Mr. Rolle had a financial advisor knowledgeable in professional athlete disability insurance and the weak contract language in the players contracts in order to protect him from a huge financial loss.

At Petersen International Underwriters we help insurance agents and brokers prescribe the proper disability insurance products to their professional athlete clients. Give us a call as we would love to help you help your clients!

To Learn More…

Petersen International Underwriters offer Meetings On Demand (MOD) which are available to you and your staff. You can arrange to learn more about any of PIU’s products on your schedule and in the comfort of your office. Contact Thomas Petersen, Cathy Kennedy, or Erik Petersen to set up your MOD.

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month (DIAM) sponsored by the LIFE Foundation. Go towww.lifehappens.org to learn more about DIAM and get useful tools for promoting income protection with Disability Insurance.