Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo says they are better than the Atlanta Braves

Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo says they are better than the Atlanta Braves by Brad Rowland

Marcus Mariota made a surprising decision to return to the Oregon Ducks for his redshirt junior season in 2014 instead of declaring for the NFL draft where he could have been the first quarterback taken and a potential No. 1 pick overall.

Today, not-so-surprising news was revealed via Rand Getlin that the Heisman Trophy candidates had purchased a large disability plan in excess of $5 million dollars.

I’m told #Oregon QB Marcus Mariota recently purchased a large disability plan in excess of $5M, which includes a “Loss of Value” rider. — Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) April 14, 2014

One interesting note on Mariota: I’m told he obtained his disability policy w/in the past month. Until that point, he was uninsured. Risky. — Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) April 14, 2014

This is a rather common practice for college athletes who project to be high picks in the upcoming draft to take out an insurance policy to protect themselves in the event they suffer a catastrophic injury that prevents them from playing at the next level.

Players such as Jadeveon Clowney and Johnny Manziel are two recent examples of players who took out a policy after before declaring for the draft.

Thankfully for fans of college and professional football, neither of them suffered a devastating injury and are in position to be top picks in next month’s draft.

Hopefully, we’ll be saying the same about Mariota this time a year from now as he will be on the short list for the Heisman and have the Ducks in position to make the college football playoff.