[socalstanfan1]

I've been thinking about the title of this thread: would Shaw/Stanford do this?  The only reason I can see why they would not is the possible concern about setting up a hierarchy among players on the team.  Do you extend the offer of injury insurance to every person facing the choice of staying one more year or testing the NFL? Do you only extend it to players whom the reports say will be drafted? Or only those likely to be drafted on the first day?  I'm sure the players all understand who among them qualify as major stars with futures in the NFL, but sometimes the NFL is late on catching up to who the really good players will be.  Cam Fleming ended up being drafted at essentially the same area of the draft as David Yankey, though coming in to their final season all the buzz was about Yankey.  And I don't know you want to have a team where 5 or 6 players are getting Stanford to buy their insurance, but other players are not.  For team chemistry, I suspect it should be an all-or-nothing situation.  Either all Srs. are offered injury insurance, or none are. 

On the other hand, if the offer was just out there, that this was part of the Stanford "package" (along with a scholarship), would it violate NCAA rules? It would be a helluva sweetener for top players considering Stanford as they come out of HS.

Edit: Ferrari mentioned Baldwin as a successful player worthy of insurance.  But this was not the evaluation of Baldwin entering his final season at Stanford.  Baldwin went undrafted, so if we based buying insurance on whether the NFL services predicted whether a guy would have a potential NFL career, Baldwin might have been left out.  Another argument for the all-or-nothing alternative.

Also, totally agree with Ferrari's bigger point about athletes being forced into college.  NFL and NBA need to stop using college athletics as their only farm system.  Take a lesson from baseball and hockey: offer a legitimate minor league, + a university option for student-athletes who want the college experience.  I've held that opinion for a while now.

[socalstanfan1]

I've been thinking about the title of this thread: would Shaw/Stanford do this?  The only reason I can see why they would not is the possible concern about setting up a hierarchy among players on the team.  Do you extend the offer of injury insurance to every person facing the choice of staying one more year or testing the NFL? Do you only extend it to players whom the reports say will be drafted? Or only those likely to be drafted on the first day?  I'm sure the players all understand who among them qualify as major stars with futures in the NFL, but sometimes the NFL is late on catching up to who the really good players will be.  Cam Fleming ended up being drafted at essentially the same area of the draft as David Yankey, though coming in to their final season all the buzz was about Yankey.  And I don't know you want to have a team where 5 or 6 players are getting Stanford to buy their insurance, but other players are not.  For team chemistry, I suspect it should be an all-or-nothing situation.  Either all Srs. are offered injury insurance, or none are. 

On the other hand, if the offer was just out there, that this was part of the Stanford "package" (along with a scholarship), would it violate NCAA rules? It would be a helluva sweetener for top players considering Stanford as they come out of HS.

Edit: Ferrari mentioned Baldwin as a successful player worthy of insurance.  But this was not the evaluation of Baldwin entering his final season at Stanford.  Baldwin went undrafted, so if we based buying insurance on whether the NFL services predicted whether a guy would have a potential NFL career, Baldwin might have been left out.  Another argument for the all-or-nothing alternative.

Also, totally agree with Ferrari's bigger point about athletes being forced into college.  NFL and NBA need to stop using college athletics as their only farm system.  Take a lesson from baseball and hockey: offer a legitimate minor league, + a university option for student-athletes who want the college experience.  I've held that opinion for a while now.