South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said Thursday he took out a $5 million insurance policy, but never considered sitting out to protect his own investment — himself.
Clowney spoke to reporters after practice, and said he had acquired the NCAA-sanctioned policy, but never considered the stance many have taken on his behalf that he shouldn’t play again.
“Sitting out? I never thought of it,” he said, via Paul Myerberg of USA Today. “I’m going to go to school and play.”
Granted, that policy only covers career-ending injuries, not nearly the amount he’d lose. And because of that, plenty of others think he should re-think his stance, since he’d probably be the top pick in this draft if eligible.
Clowney couldn’t have entered the draft this year if he wanted to, because of an NFL rule that requires you to be three years out of high school before joining the league (with or without $275).
He only expressed concern about the things college students are supposed to be concerned about. Asked his goals for the coming season, he replied: “More sacks. . . . and I’m going to try to lead my team to more wins.”
Toward that end, he added 13 pounds to his 260-pound frame, but still ran “something like” a 4.54 40-yard dash.
“I want to keep my speed up,” he said. “I don’t want to gain weight and then get slower. I put on like 12 pounds, 13 pounds and kept my same speed, so that’s pretty good.”
Yes, it is. It’s the kind of size and speed that would earn him far more than $5 million, but he seems perfectly willing to take that kind of chance.