Is your hair worth one million dollars? Believe it or not, it is possible to get an insurance policy that is specifically in regards to your hair, or whatever body part you happen to feel is especially valuable. Whenever a celebrity gets this kind of insurance policy, it is sure to make headlines. The same is true when athletes do it, especially if the body part they are insuring happens to be their hair.
Troy Polamalu, and NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, now has his long, flowing, trademark black hair insured for $1 Million dollars. His hair has been ensured by the shampoo brand Head and Shoulders, which is the brand that the Pittsburgh Steelers football team has endorsed. The insurance policy comes from Lloyd’s of London. Troy Polamalu’s hair is almost three feet long, and he chooses to keep the length as a tribute to his Samoan heritage. He has experienced at least one football game where an opposing player has grabbed onto his hair while tackling him. I suppose that if your hair was what you were known by, it has great cultural significance to you, and you happen to work in an environment where people are likely to grab hold of your hair as they try and tackle you, well, then maybe it isn’t so strange to get a one million dollar insurance policy on your hair after all.
This is not the only instance where a celebrity, or someone in the public eye, has gotten insurance on a part of their body. Another athlete, Mark McGwire, of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, had his ankle insured for $12 million dollars. This was in 1998 when he was competing against Sammy Sosa to see who would break Roger Maris’ home run record. The Cardinals insured McGwire’s ankle because it was giving him trouble at the time. Joba Chamberlain, a pitcher for the Yankees, insured his right arm. If anything happens that prevents him from being able to pitch, (even if the cause is due to getting hit by a bus), this insurance policy will pay him $5 million.
David Beckham, famous soccer player who has played for the Los Angeles Galaxy team, and is also a member of England’s National Team, has a $78 million dollar insurance policy on his legs. Another soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was recently on the Portugal National 2010 World Cup team, insured his lower body for $153 million dollars. Why the lower half? That may have something to do with how often he was fouled while playing soccer.
Sports insurance can help to cover the cost of medical bills that are incurred due to recovering from an injury that happened as part of a game, or sporting event. Insurance on a specific body part seems to be an extra step, designed to provide protection in case a sports injury prevents a player from continuing his career as an athlete. It’s always interesting to hear about an athlete getting a body part insured!
Image by Jayel Aheram on Flickr