The NCAA News - News and Features

October 27, 1997

Jury rules that football player was not employed at institution

A paralyzed former Texas Christian University football player was not an employee of the university when he was injured, according to a Texas district court jury.

After deliberating for about an hour, 10 of 12 jurors ruled October 20 against Alvis Kent Waldrep Jr.'s contention that he was an employee when he broke his neck during a football game against the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, in 1974. Had he been classified an employee, Waldrep would have been eligible for worker's compensation benefits.

He said he had hoped his case would lead to worker's compensation insurance for all college athletes, according to The Associated Press.

Under Texas law, only 10 jurors have to agree on a civil case verdict. None of them would discuss the decision.

The case, which could be appealed, was closely watched by college sports authorities who said it could have drastically changed the relationship between schools and student-athletes.

Waldrep said the relationship needs changing.

"The only employees left without protection are the boys and girls who make it all happen," he said.

To bolster his claim that he was an employee, Waldrep told the eight-woman, four-man jury that he was under a contract with the school to play football in return for a full scholarship. He also said he got additional money left inside his shoes on several occasions in the Texas Christian locker room.

The Texas Worker's Compensation Commission in 1993 ruled that Waldrep was an employee, ordering Texas Christian's former insurance company to pay Waldrep $70 a month for the rest of his life.

Gregory Whigham, an attorney for Texas Employers Insurance Association, said Waldrep's scholarship was not compensation but an award for his athletics and academic ability.

Whigham would not comment on the verdict, citing the possibility of an appeal.

"College athletes still are at the mercy of their schools," Waldrep said. "They are not protected. They are the ones who earn the money. We convinced two (jurors), and we'll continue talking about this."

Waldrep added that the case was never about the money.

"Seventy dollars is not going to change the quality of my life," he said before the verdict.

Grant Teaff, former Baylor University football coach and executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, said the case could have had serious financial consequences for college athletics.

"You want to see youngsters who have problems be taken care of," Teaff said. "But we're not only talking about football. There would be a cost."

Jim Epolito is a former Michigan State University linebacker and president of the Accident Fund, one of Michigan's largest worker's compensation insurance companies.

He said he has lingering effects from three serious injuries suffered while playing college football in the 1970s. He said he can see how Waldrep felt like an employee but that legally he wasn't.

"My own personal opinion is they should be classified as employees," Epolito said of college athletes. "When you fill stadiums at $25 to $30 a head, they are performing on behalf of some entity."

Epolito added that insurance policies can be written to cover college athletes as volunteers. But he said no such coverage was available for Waldrep.

The NCAA has a catastrophic-injury insurance policy available for college athletes, but Waldrep said it is not enough.