Some say that the impact of getting tackled by an NFL player is equivalent to that of being in a serious car wreck, a taste of what it is to be twisted metal.  A snap of the collar bone, a shatter of the ribs, and a crack of the spinal cord are among the brutally painful and possible career-ending injuries suffered by NFL players as well as athletes amongst several other professional sports.  Fortunately, Dr. John Doe is always available with cement and stone to rebuild that wall of an athlete when he crumbles to bits.  However, as several professional athletes know all too well, time on the playing field is not the only thing a player can lose after suffering a crippling injury.

Financial stability, the ability to support a family while in rehabilitation, and the livelihood of one’s entire career are among the factors threatened by a professional athlete’s injury.  Who is there to insure the protection of such life-shattering factors?  Meet Richard “Big Daddy” Salgado.  President of Coastal Advisors LLC, Salgado specializes in providing professional athletes with life insurance, career insurance, disability insurance, estate planning, and wills and trusts.

“My job works in several different sports.  Coastal Advisors LLC has over 400 professional athletes that are a part of our company,” Salgado proudly says.   Specifically, Justin Tuck of the New York Giants, Jason Bartlett of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Johan Franzen of the Detroit Redwings, and retired NFL icon Michael Strahan of the New York Giants are just a small number of professional athletes that Mr. Salgado has enabled to sleep easy over the years.

Before entering the business of sports insurance, Big Daddy was no stranger to the role of protector.  Mr. Salgado played football at the University of Maryland in the position of that towering wall which a defensive tackle had to hurdle in pursuit of All-Pro quarterback Neil O’Donnell, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Having been on the field with the likes of a football icon such as O’Donnell, Salgado is also no stranger to being amongst sports superstars.  After about five years of experience in professional sports insurance, Salgado was able to solidify his position as the man that every professional athlete needs to talk to.

“I don’t recruit clients.  Ninety percent of my business is word-of-mouth references.  I tell the players exactly what I do, who I deal with, and why I am the most important person in their camp.  We are a very important piece of these players’ lives,” Salgado says, his tone expressing the concern for his clients that a man would show for a close friend.  Being an important part of insuring athlete protection, Mr. Salgado comes across plenty of injuries, the most common of which are damage to the knee or the Achilles tendon.  “Fortunately, I haven’t had any clients that have been hurt tragically though,” Salgado says with relief.

Like Salgado, seasoned coaches and general managers also understand the perils of an athlete’s profession and they therefore support Salgado’s goal to protect the players.  Several coaches and managers are even amongst Salgado’s clients as well.  As for the players understanding of the risks of their profession, “A lot of them have this Tarzan attitude, believe that they won’t get hurt, and that my help doesn’t pertain to them.  But, I let them know that I have a scar on my forehead from surviving an aneurysm.  It’s an everyday reminder that if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re in trouble.”

For more information about Richard “Big Daddy” Salgado and his athletic insurance business is available on his company’s website at www.coastaladvisorsllc.com