And also a known effect of playing a sport you love throughout college which allowed you to get a degree which allows you to get a job where you can purchase health insurance just like everyone else.
If you take this step then where do you stop? I played high school ball and didn't get paid and I've had a chronically bad back. Should my high school have to foot the bill for those injuries as well? I remember l realize the economics are different but college athletes have an opportunity to get a free education which should allow them career opportunities which would allow them to purchase their own health insurance. I'd they do not take advantage of that opportunity and aren't covered, why should the schools pay for it further down the line?
Not only is it a bad argument, but it is economically infeasible. Colleges already provide insurance for athletes, not only just for catastrophic injuries but pretty much all injuries incurred while in college. While this is a lot, most of the wear and tear in revenue sports, due to constant training, pushing the limits of endurance, contact, etc. take a toll on athletes and their effects may not be immediately visible but they will likely surface later in life as lingering injuries, whether that is pain in the joints, muscle, back, feet, hands, tendons, etc. Extremely likely that an ex-athlete will suffer from something like that in his/her lifetime and require medical treatment.
There is absolutely no way that in addition to insurance provided to athletes while in college, universities will cover lifetime healthcare to the
hundreds of athletes every year, men and women,in revenue sports. That is hundreds of athletes every year. You are talking about hundreds of millions and collectively billions of dollars. Colleges and universities will never ever take such liability and pay long term costs like that.