Back of Colorado’s Dec. 28 Alamo Bowl battle with BYU, Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders made another bold state. Describing what the coach hailed as a “tremendous announcement, ” Sanders and athletic director Rick George said the school had just secured a record-breaking amount of disability insurance for its two stars, Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s boy. “It was [Sanders’s ] thought that we should find disability coverage for our student-athletes for this activity to ensure that, if anything happened, they’d been well taken care of, ” George explained during a pre-bowl press conference. “We think it ’s excellent that all of our people are playing in the game, and that ’s how all bowl game should be. ” While Sanders said that the policy for Hunter and Shedeur was the “highest amount of cover that has ever been covered in school football“—a say George vouched for—he did n’t show the actual amount. The announcement was met with affirming stories from dozens of media outlets, establishing Sanders as a pioneer of disability coverage for college athletes. The year before, CU faced pushback after Sportico reported that Hunter had been playing without money protection when he sustained a possible career-ending injury early in the season. Now, public records obtained by Sportico reveal limits to the purportedly record-breaking coverage and cast doubt on the significance of the Buffs ’ Alamo Bowl declaration, contrary to what was suggested by Sanders and George. Importantly, the policy for Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter was only marginally higher for the pitcher activity than what their existing guidelines already provided. According to letters between CU leaders and the plan ’s insurance agent, Paradigm Gilbert, the players—whose brands were redacted—already had$ 20 million in disability coverage in place for the regular season and playoffs. Ahead of the bowl game, CU added an additional$ 1 million of temporary coverage—at a cost of$ 1,030 per player to the school—which raised their total coverage to$ 21 million. After December 29, the policies ’ limits reverted back to the original$ 20 million. A CU spokesperson declined comment, citing student privacy rules, and the Paradigm Gilbert agent, Matthew Vuckovich, did not respond to an email comment. Multiple insurance industry sources, who spoke to Sportico on the condition of anonymity, said they are aware of other disability policies for college football players with total limits in excess of$ 21 million. The impairment coverage—or absence of it—for CU’s best football players has been an interesting plotline to the Deion Sanders display in Colorado. Due to his getting in 2022, the university had n’t arranged plan for a basketball person since receiver Laviska Shenault in 2019. Usually, such policy is reserved for college players deemed likely to be top-round NFL Draft options, a difference that had been uncommon in Boulder until Sanders arrived from Jackson State, bringing Hunter and his children along with him. But, as Sportico recently reported, Hunter was unemployed when he suffered a punctured liver due to a late strike during CU’s Sep. 15, 2023 match against Colorado State. The university said at the time that plan was an “incredibly critical decision ” for sportsmen that “can get complicated. ” However, other sources familiar with the situation attributed the coverage gap to Deion Sanders ’ need to use Paradigm Gilbert instead of an athletic department plan consultant previously retained by the university. Eventually, the school paid for insurance policies for a handful of players, including Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. It is unclear how many CU athletes actually had school-supplemented disability coverage for the Alamo Bowl. At the press conference, Sanders mentioned a “multitude of draftable players” who had received coverage throughout the season. However, in response to Sportico’s records request for information about the total number of policies CU had paid for, the school provided records that addressed only two policyholders— Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. “As Rick and Coach Prime mentioned in their Alamo Bowl press conference, additional coverage was offered to the entire team, ” the CU spokesperson said in an email. “That coverage was then subsequently provided to those who qualified and who accepted our offer. ” The spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up question asking if that group who qualified included more than just Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. Paradigm Gilbert is a California-based insurance provider that has primarily worked with professional athletes. The firm, founded by former sports agent and Chicago White Sox executive Dennis Gilbert, is currently defending itself in a four-year-old breach of contract lawsuit filed by ex-Major League Baseball pitcher Matt Garza, over a disability claim that was denied coverage. That case is set to go to trial Jan. 31.