Source: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/20...

For the first time ever, a former college football star will cash in on an insurance policy that protected him from a free-fall in the NFL draft.

CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd reports that Ifo Ekpre-Olomu will collect a $3 million claim after the All-American cornerback from Oregon suffered a season-ending injury in December. A projected first- or second-round pick, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament and dislocated the kneecap in his right leg, causing him to tumble to the seventh and final round, where he was taken by the Cleveland Browns.

The claim was underwritten by Total Planning Sports Services for Lloyd's of London, and is expected to be paid out in the next month or two. Ekpre-Olomu was just one of many players for whom Oregon paid premiums on injury or loss-of-value insurance, which cost $8,000 per $1 million of coverage. That money comes out of the NCAA's Student Assistance Fund, used to aid  student-athletes "in meeting financial needs that arise in conjunction with participation in intercollegiate athletics."

Loss-of-value insurance is different from disability insurance, which pays out in the case of catastrophic injury that ends a player's career. Rather, it provides a sort of gap coverage for players who fall at least one round lower than their projection in the draft. The use of such policies has expanded since the NCAA clarified last year that schools were allowed to use the assistance fund to cover premiums. Players were previously on the hook for their policies themselves, but after the NCAA allowed Texas A&M to cover offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi and Florida State to cover quarterback Jameis Winston, Oregon reimbursed players including Ekpre-Olomu and quarterback Marcus Mariota for their costs.