I’ve only been hit by a player once, and no damage to me, my gear, nor the player … thankfully.
Unfortunately, in this case, I doubt his insurance would cover the monopod, since the claim would be less than the excess on the policy. Mind you, I hope he had his PL insurance up to date. Imagine a player from the NFL hurting himself and making a claim … you’d be talking serious money there, a few million at least.