Ex-Oregon star set to be first player to collect on injury insurance
According to a report, former Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu is set to become the first player to collect on a loss-of-value injury insurance policy.
While numerous high-profile players have taken out such policies in recent years, none of them had yet collected on the insurance, which protects a player financially in the event that he falls one round or more in the draft from where he had been projected due to an injury.
Ekpre-Olomu was a preseason All-American in 2014 who was widely projected as a first-round draft pick but tore his ACL late in Oregon's season. Come the 2015 NFL Draft, he fell to the seventh round, where he was selected by the Browns with the 241st pick overall.
CBS Sports has reported that the policy was worth $3 million.
"That claim is close to getting paid," Keith Lerner, the head of policy underwriter Total Planning Sports Services, told CBS Sports on Thursday.
Lerner also told CBS Sports that the claim should be paid in the next 30-60 days.
Ekpre-Olomu is expected to miss his rookie season in Cleveland while recovering, but Lerner said: "His hope is that he is going to come back and play. Hopefully he'll come back and have a great career."