Rise in NFL Injuries, Fouls Disturbs Insurers : Industry Spokesmen Believe Insuring Players Might Soon Become Impractical

SAN FRANCISCO â€”  An insurance representative for Lloyd’s of London warns that it soon might become impractical to insure National Football League players, not only because of the rising number of injuries, but also because of what appears to be a rising number of flagrant fouls committed by players.

The agent said the body-slam administered by Green Bay’s Charles Martin to Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon 10 days ago may be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back� for insurers of NFL players.

“What’s happening when $80,000-a-year goons can kill the players who make the game? . . . There aren’t many Marinos and McMahons around. We insure accidents, not the intentional injury,� said Brian D. Burns, president of Pro-Financial Services, a U.S. correspondent for Lloyd’s in the sports market.

In September, the American Sports Underwriters Association, the Boston-based sports underwriters for the State Mutual Life Assurance of America, stopped offering insurance to NFL players for similar reasons. Ted Dipple, president of the association, which he said still insures about 100 NFL players, said, “The odds were stacking up against the insurers for a number of reasons. It seemed prudent for us to step to the sidelines for a while.�

Burns said Lloyd’s insures more than 400 of the NFL’s estimated 1,600 players. That includes McMahon and 21 of the 28 first-round draft picks this season. Lloyd’s has made substantial payoffs over the past few years to such former stars as linebacker Jack Lambert and running backs Billy Sims ($2 million) and Marcus Dupree (more than $2 million), both of whom suffered career-ending injuries. Former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann had an injury-protection policy with Lloyd’s valued at more than $1 million.

“The market is nervous enough with the regular rate of injuries,� said Burns, based in Arlington Heights, Ill. “(But) if they literally see a player go out to knock another player out, something has got to be done. The game is tough enough and violent enough as it is, and we take that into consideration when we insure.�

Until recently, running backs and linebackers were the players Lloyd’s viewed to be at the greatest risk of injury, Burns said. Now, with quarterbacks being injured at an alarming rate, Burns said, “it shows that has become a rougher position to insure and they are very vulnerable.�

The premiums vary, Burns said. He said, for instance, that a rookie running back drafted in the first round with a four-year, $2-million contract, would pay a premium of about $90,000 over four years, whereas a 34-year-old quarterback, older and less likely to rebound from injury, might pay a $75,000 premium for $250,000 protection. More likely, Burns said, this quarterback couldn’t get insurance.

“It takes skillful underwriters and a lot of courage on the part of Lloyd’s to (insure NFL players),� Burns said. Of the late hit to McMahon, now out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury, he said, “Things like this are just what could cause us to come out of the market. . . . “

Not everyone in the Bears’ front office is enthralled with quarterback Doug Flutie. Coach Mike Ditka wanted the Heisman Trophy winner, and Flutie was acquired by the Bears, against the wishes of personnel director Bill Tobin. Now, Tobin says, “If (Flutie) is put on the field, we’ll see what he can do. I won’t make any predictions. (But) to me, the Heisman Trophy is given for college achievement. The Heisman Trophy doesn’t indicate pro potential. . . . “

What’s more shocking: that the Miami Dolphins scored 45 points in each game against the New York Jets this season, or that they only won one of the two games? . . . Before this season, the consensus seemed to be that the AFC West rated as the NFL’s toughest division, a notch ahead of the NFC East. However, NFC East teams hold a 10-6 advantage in head-to-head games between the divisions this season with just one matchup left: the Redskins at Denver on Dec. 13. . . .

Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason was asked if he is a left-handed John Elway. He replied, “If I’m a left-handed John Elway, I’m underpaid and underpublicized. I would say that he’s a right-handed Boomer Esiason, but that would mean he would be overpaid and overpublicized.� . . .

Cleveland kicker Mark Moseley, a Redskin for 11 1/2 seasons, said Sunday that part of the reason he had converted just 13 of his last 27 field-goal tries with the Redskins was holder Jay Schroeder. “Jay didn’t have trouble adjusting to me. I had trouble adjusting to Jay,� Moseley said. “I couldn’t get used to it. I think Coach (Joe) Gibbs knew that.� . . .

The Cowboys have yielded 58 points in the first half over the past two games, 34 to the Redskins, 24 to the Seahawks. They only yielded 75 first-half points over the first 11 games. . . . Miami quarterback Dan Marino’s pass release remains as quick as ever. He’s been sacked only 16 times this season. That number is more remarkable when you consider Dallas quarterback Steve Pelluer was sacked 12 times in one game. . . .

Speaking of sacks, Buffalo’s Jim Kelly, who criticized the Bills’ offensive line before joining the team from the United States Football League, has been sacked 34 times this season, rating 16th in the 28-team NFL. Kelly was sacked 110 times in 34 USFL games.

If you look at the statistics, you’d think his nickname should have been Fraudway Joe. After all, in his 12 seasons with the Jets, Joe Namath threw 45 more interceptions than touchdowns (215 to 170), completed only 50.2% of his passes and the team had a .456 winning percentage in his tenure, reaching the postseason just twice.

But don’t tell this to Don Maynard, the former Jets receiver now back home in El Paso. Maynard says, “It’s kind of strange, but everybody now compares the young guys to Namath. But as I watch Elway, Marino and the rest of them, I don’t see anybody who throws as well as Joe. The ball gets to the receivers so late now on the out patterns.

“Joe’s greatest ability was his anticipation. Of course he had four Texan receivers (Maynard, George Sauer Jr., Pete Lammons and Robert (Bake) Turner) who never busted but one play in eight years when playing with him, and that gave Joe the confidence that he never had to worry about somebody changing or cheating him on a pass route.�