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Ex-NFL lineman defends his comp award despite 'Survivor' stint

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A former football star is taking to the airwaves and flexing his muscles to prove he didn't commit insurance fraud.

Former NFL defensive lineman Brad Culpepper stripped down to his undershirt during a televised interview this week in an attempt to convey the extent of his injuries to ABC News reporter Brian Ross. “Is that normal?” Mr. Culpepper asked, displaying a grotesquely torn bicep to the notoriously skeptical Mr. Ross.

In 2011 Mr. Culpepper, now a Florida personal injury attorney, received a $175,000 workers compensation disability settlement from Fairmont Superior Insurance Co. in California. In September 2014, Fairmont filed suit against Mr. Culpepper, questioning his 89% disability rating based on the fact that he continues to participate in martial arts and starred as a 2013 cast member on the reality TV show Survivor alongside his wife.

In the interview, a feisty Mr. Culpepper noted that the black belt he recently was rewarded was only honorary and that he made it through his stint on Survivor with the help of pain medication and a medical procedure that helped his ailing back.

Mr. Culpepper's wife, Monica, said she regretted convincing him to appear on the show.

“I 100% wish I had never asked him to be on the show,” she told Mr. Ross. “For all that he's going through right now and being this insurance company's target, is not worth it.”

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