You Can't Build a Program on a Kid You Left Broken

Two words. 'Medical coverage protections.' That's it. That's the whole line. No detail. No teeth yet. Just a promise sitting in a committee waiting room. Here's what I know. I've watched kids blow out a knee in November and spend January figuring out how to pay for the surgery. Not figuring out rehab. Not figuring out their comeback. Figuring out the bill. That's on us. That's been on us for decades. You want to talk NIL? Fine. Talk NIL. But a kid can't spend his NIL money if he's uninsured and scared to get an MRI. The 'medical coverage protections' provision is the most important line in this entire bill — and right now it's the vaguest. I've seen programs hand a kid a scholarship with one hand and a liability waiver with the other. 'We'll cover you while you're eligible.' What about after? What about the hip that gives out at 35 from something that happened at 19? Revenue sharing and agent fees — those matter. But a man's body is the only contract that can't be renegotiated. So here's the question: When this bill gets to committee, who's going to fight to put real language — duration, scope, post-eligibility coverage — behind those two words?