NFL

March 01, 2011

We want sports agent gossip

After all things Cam Newton, the biggest story from the 2011 NFL Combine was the arrest of agent Pat Dye, Jr.

The story started out on Pro Football Talk (PFT) with four unnamed sources for every unnamed agent who allegedly ran afoul with the law. (Seriously, I tried to count.)

Mike Florio provided the play-by-play for Combinegate:

We contacted the agent in question, who strongly denied the allegation. The league denied it, too. Later in the day, we received word from an eyewitness who saw the agent with what initially was described as a player’s credential. The second source later clarified that it was a sponsor’s credential, and the second source said that the agent was handcuffed temporarily. The agent once again strongly denied it. The league once again denied it, too. We then dispatched Rosenthal to sniff around Indy. He spoke with multiple security personnel at Lucas Oil Stadium, but no one admitted to knowing anything."

"No one admitted to knowing anything." In journalism, that small point usually stops an otherwise good story. But that's so 2008. Now, witnesses who lack credibility get elevated to unnamed source status. And the medium formerly known as gossip gets dressed up as hard news.

We like gossip. We want gossip.

Meatballs, one my favorite 80s comedies, reflects the marketplace's zest for gossip...


Sports by Brooks took it from here with this awesome headline:

Pat Dye Jr. Cuffed At Combine, Sexton Escapes

Who cares about Pat Dye's run-in with the po-po? I want to know about superagent Jimmy Sexton's harrowing, 007-ish escape. According to my imaginative sources, there are only three ways Sexton could have possibly escaped:

1) He avoided capture by scaling Lucas Oil Stadium rafters, then breaking a window, careening down the exterior, then blending in with the 2,242 other NFL agents walking Indy streets.

2) When questioned by Indianapolis police, Sexton pointed out that he was deputized by NCAA cops by virtue of serving on the NCAA's blue ribbon panel to “tackle the complex issue of improper agent activity in college sports.” The fine print: Participation includes immunity from agent laws.

3) Sexton ran from police while Dye played it safe, which is in his family's DNA.

Then Liz Mullen from Sports Business Journal went old-school journalism and got Pat Dye on the phone and on the record.

Talk about a let-the-air-out headline:

NFL Player Agent Pat Dye Jr. Questioned By Police In Indianapolis

According to Pat Dye:

"We were contacted by Under Armour that they would like to have (Dye's and Sexton's client Alabama WR) Julio Jones formally sign his seven-figure marketing deal that includes a national television commercial. I did nothing wrong or illegal."

Dye was "interviewed for about two-and-a-half hours before he was allowed to leave."

Taxpayer dollars at work, folks.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis has seen a recent uptick in violent crime. In response, Indianapolis police "added more officers downtown Saturday night...in the wake of a Saturday morning killing in the bar district."

That edict was two weeks ago, before Indy overfloweth with 8,000 NFL agents.

These are scary times for sports agents. In 2008, an agent who is no longer working as an agent was arrested for violating Alabama's agent laws. (Last month, an arrest warrant was issued when the former agent failed to show up in court at his plea hearing.) The case dates back to 2005 when the agent allegedly sent an employee to visit Alabama football star Tyrone Prothro, who (pick one) A) just ran for 400 yards against Auburn or B) was in the hospital for what turned to be a career-ending leg fracture.

Correct answer is B.

While every other agent did the math on 3% of nothing and, therefore, complied with Alabama state agent laws, one agent saw an opportunity to get a (gimpy) leg up on his competition. The agent was charged with a misdemeanor for "initiating contact with an athlete without being a registered sports agent in Alabama and a felony charge of failing to register as a sports agent."

Don Valeska, assistant Alabama attorney general prosecuting the case, laid down the law: “Nobody comes to the state of Alabama without following the law and talks to college athletes."

I have no doubt Alabama takes its agents laws very seriously. I wonder, do these laws encourage agents to comply or does it drive these activities further underground? Mr. Valeska hardly sounds like a fair-minded member of the jurisprudence; more like a man mission to protect his state's greatest natural resource: Amateur football players.

--Marc Isenberg

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Posted at 08:18 AM in Accusations, Agents, Humor, NFL | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

January 31, 2011

Comedy Central's Atom.com with an Instant Classic: Writers Room: Super Bowl XLV

What if the NFL was secretly run akin to the WWE? Champions are not made in the offseason...in the weight room...in the film room...on Sunday. No. They're made here...in the writers room! Sort of the literal version of Bill Walsh's "scripting plays." On a more profound (and still comedic) level, it does explore why "concussing" is so dramatic. Enjoy this intense, hard-fought meeting to determine the outcome of Super Bowl XLV by the sketch comedy group, 12 Angry Mascots!

--Marc Isenberg

Posted at 02:31 PM in NFL | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 19, 2010

The "Punk" QB

T.J. Simers, the longtime LA TImes sportswriter known for unmercifully needling more than a few sports figures, does a wonderful "where is he now" piece on the artist who will forever be known as one of the biggest NFL busts of alltime, Ryan Leaf. Ryan gives his mea culpa. Obviously, these are just words, but I give Leaf a lot of credit for coming honing up to his mistakes. There's no guarantee that even if he was a model citizen, he would have succeed on the field. But, no doubt his poor attitude and lousy work ethic contributed to his demise.

A few quotes from Ryan in T.J's column: Even though Leaf was one of the biggest alltime draft busts, it could have been worse... "I dodged a bullet. A strong case can be made that Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback since Unitas. It's bad enough as it is, but just imagine if I had been picked ahead of Peyton.'' Then/Now... "I was a phony person for so long, it's so freeing now to tell the truth.'' "It's all on me and no one else. I take full responsibility for not succeeding." A cautionary tale for young athletes... "It was total self-destruction. My mom has old tapes. I listened to one recently and cringed. That kid was a punk. That's my fault for leaving college early and not having someone around me to help. And if I did, as stubborn and bullheaded as I was, I probably would not have listened. I was 22, but I was 16 probably as far as maturity goes.'' On seeking help... "I was tired of being beat up by the media. I was just so exhausted. I thought I could just walk away, not talk about it and it would all go away, but that's the not the way the world works.''

"I realized one night I was taking drugs for emotional and not physical pain, but it had such a hold on me. I couldn't ask for help -- I didn't want to appear weak.'' On the the lessons learned... "I don't know what could be more powerful than me standing in front of young athletes telling my story. I'm no role model, just someone with a story of struggle. And maybe triumph.''

-----

There's no do-overs in life, but certainly Ryan Leaf provides a great lesson for young athletes on what not to do. You can only root for Ryan, going forward, to find success and happiness.

--Marc Isenberg



Posted at 10:49 AM in NFL, Off field behavior | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 26, 2008

Money Players Links

Money Players is all about being the best resource for the business of being a professional athlete. Here are some links from around the web that we think are must reads for any current or aspiring professional athlete and their families.

  • Lester Munson with a great tribute to the late Gene Upshaw. Munson gives a very thorough breakdown of how Upshaw fought for and gained free agency rights for NFL players. You have to wonder what benefits NFL players would have today without the work of Gene Upshaw.
     
  • On Ball Don’t Lie, . With more and more professional athletes starting their own blogs, one has to wonder if blogs help or hurt them. Some might say that Gilbert Arenas has both hurt and helped himself a ton with his NBA.com blog.
  • More on Jameer Nelson’s “Building Magic” team building event. We have no idea if this will translate to wins, but this definitely shows that Jameer Nelson is a leader, through and through.
  • According to bankruptcy papers, Michael Vick is losing $12K per month. Michael is going through tough times now, but he’ll have a chance to rebuild his life in the near future. Hopefully he’ll come out and be willing teach young up and coming athletes about the mistakes he has made, so that they won’t make the same mistakes in the future.
  • According to NCAA President, Myles Brand, "NCAA amateurism regulations preclude individuals from receiving cash or the equivalent thereof (e.g. trust fund), as an award for participation in competition at any time, even if such an award is permitted under the rules governing an amateur non-collegiate event in which the individual participates."  The NCAA has dug its heels in on the amateur issue and shows no signs of relenting. Interestingly, the International Olympic Committee, which for many decades insisted that the amateurism was a core belief, dramatically relaxed its amateur rules. In 1974, the word "amateurism" was removed from the Olympic Charter, which eventually paved the way for the participation of athletes who received compensation, either through playing or endorsements. Regulating amateur athletes in a marketplace that places a high value on elite student-athletes is becoming increasingly difficult. The NCAA is in a tough situation. What do you think the NCAA and its membership should do? 
  • Speaking of Brand, the Indianapolis Star gives us a report on Dr. Brand’s NCAA salary.  With an annual salary of $971,000, the NCAA President makes more than every public university president in the country. But he also makes less than ever major sports commissioner in the country. His job has similar requirements to both of those groups, so his salary being in between the two might be right on point.
  • Brand was also in the Huffington Post this past week talking about the topic of pay for play in college sports.  In response, Brian Grummell of AOL’s Fanhouse gives us his take on the topic.  The comments section on Brand’s Huffington piece are also worth taking a close look at.
  • The New York Times investigates if endorsement opportunities disappear for Olympic athletes that are injured before they have a chance to perform.
  • Speaking of the Olympics, CNBC’s Darren Rovell has been doing an excellent job of covering the business side of the Olympics. We highly recommend rummaging through his blog archives over the last couple of weeks to soak up all of the information you can. You can start with this post on the most marketable non-team sport athletes following the Olympics.
  • Check back Thursday for another set of must read Money Players Links.

-Nate Jones

For more in-depth information on the business of being a professional athlete, purchase , written by our own Marc Isenberg.

 

 

Posted at 02:48 PM in Finances, Links, Michael Vick, Money, NBA, NCAA sports, NFL, Weblogs | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

April 23, 2008

Sex, Lies & NFL interrogations

According to NFL draft prospect Jerod Mayo, an NFL team asked him: "When's the last time you cheated on your girlfriend?" The logical follow up question by this Javert-type had to then be, "And when did you stop beating her?"

I understand the need for NFL teams to do background checks on draft prospects, but this question assumes guilt. Mayo handled the situation very well: "They didn't even ask me, 'Did you cheat on your girlfriend?' I told them I didn't cheat on my girlfriend."

This reminds me of the great story then-free agent Jayson Williams told about how the Chicago Bulls put him through several hours of psychological testing and questioning. The Bulls then signed the ultimate headcase, Dennis Rodman. On the other hand, Rodman never shot anyone to death, so perhaps Jerry Krause knew what he was doing. 

Posted at 12:03 AM in Draft, NFL, Off field behavior | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

February 11, 2008

Rethinking Sean Taylor

A phenomenal story in the Washington Post on the complex life and tragic death of Washington Redskin Sean Taylor. He was the product of a father who pushed Sean to great athletic accomplishments and a skeptical, distrustful mother. I am not a psychologist, but I do think the path to the NFL is paved with nasty bumps and hairpin turns; and the ones who can put pedal to the medal without crashing are the ones who make it. From an emotional standpoint, it's not always the most healthy environment, even if a career in professional sports represents the dream of many young kids. Ultimately, the same qualities that it takes to become an NFL player are typically not the same qualities it takes to live a happy, fulfilled life.

From the Washington Post article:

[Taylor] had a code by which he lived and played. Taylor was uninterested in the fame that came with being an NFL star. He turned away the media because he felt reporters would only build up athletes to tear them down. He rejected commercial endorsements because he had no interest in fame.

[Former Redskin defensive coordinator Gregg] Williams said that if a teammate showed fear on the field or an opponent dared challenge his fire, Taylor would fly into rages...[Williams] had spent so much of his coaching career trying to "manufacture toughness" in his players, he said, and here was one who came ready-made with all the ferocity the game demanded. 

The saddest part of Taylor's tragic death is that he won't get the opportunity to see his baby girl grow up in a world far different from the one he experienced. And the public won't get to see a hardened NFL Pro Bowler soften as he gradually learned to navigate the contradictory, confusing worlds he inhabited.

Like many pro athletes, he Taylor did have another side:

[The] player who trusted few adults loved children. There was an innocence to children, friends and family think he believed, a special warmth that had yet to be spoiled by adults...When Rene Garcia [Jackie's father] showed up with his daughter to clean out Taylor's Ashburn townhouse in December, sources say he was stunned to see neighbors pouring from their homes to tell stories of the football star who came out into the street to play with the children, who was invited to their birthday parties, said he would come and then actually did.

Posted at 04:52 PM in NFL | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 29, 2008

Super Bowl Media Daze

Today is Super Bowl media day, which is mostly an opportunity for a few fringe members of the media to ask stupid questions or propose marriage. Tough call for Tom Brady: A wedding-dress wearing stalker or Giselle? CNNSI.com features the all-time dumbest Super Bowl questions.

Appearing on ESPN's Outside the Lines, six-time Super Bowl participant Don Beebe offered some great insights.

On Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren preparing team for the off-the-field distractions:

"Coach Holmgren said, 'I have two players who want to address to the football team. The first is Don Beebe and he will tell you what to do during Super Bowl Week. And the next is Jim McMahon. He's going to tell you want not to do.'"

On the high cost of taking care of friends and family:

"Me and my wife sat down and figured out how much we invested on the six Super Bowls and it was over $300,000 in tickets, meals, hotel rooms and all that stuff. Tickets aren't cheap. The most I ever got was 48 tickets for Super Bowl XXVIII."

Posted at 01:01 PM in NFL | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 10, 2007

Less Michael Vick, more Baron Davis

Today the Sports Talk Nation is fixated on Michael Vick and his prison sentencing. I'm over Vick. He will pay his debt to society and hopefully come out a better person. If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell thinks Vick deserves another opportunity to play in the NFL again, great. (Whether he will have the ability to come back after a two, probably three-year layoff is another story.) While Vick couldn't sever his ties to his past, there are many other professional athletes who recognize that there are many positive ways to stay true to their communities. Baron Davis, whom I've known since his Crossroads High School (Santa Monica) and UCLA days, gets it. Baron is quoted in the SacBee:

"When you come from where I came from and you come into a lot of money, then a lot of people come out of the woodwork. Those weren't the best people to have around. When you're young, you allow that to happen. You feel a sense of guilt for your success. But you also want to help change people that you feel have potential and talent. But those people are there for a reason, and that's to really become takers.

"I've just become more well-rounded as far as what I want out of life. Coming into the league, it was really all about basketball and it was all about being real and keeping it real with my friends from my neighborhood. I just kind of walled myself off from the rest of the world and from challenging myself to be more than just a basketball player.

"I was just so caught up into going back to my community and going back to my neighborhood and doing as much as I could there that I wasn't allowing myself to soak up all my resources or utilize all my resources. A lot of times, you just get tunnel vision. When you're in the league, sometimes you have people around that just make you feel good. Now, I've opened myself up to having those friends in my life that challenge me every day and force me to be more."

Posted at 10:17 PM in NBA, NFL, Off field behavior | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 28, 2007

The meaning of life and death

Reading accounts of the life and tragic death of Sean Taylor is both heartwarming and depressing. From a troubled, violent and dangerous past, emerged a thoughtful, caring family man, teammate and friend. A real team leader. Taylor had so much to live for -- a baby daughter, a career in the NFL -- yet he died so unnecessarily.

Death is never an easy subject. Not only do we have a young, professional athlete cut down in his absolute prime, we're dealing with many other related issues (fame, money, violence, race). Perhaps Taylor's murder is a senseless, random tragedy. Mike Wilbon offers a very different view, first offered in a WashPost.com chat:

I know how I feel about Taylor, and this latest news isn’t surprising in the least, not to me. Whether this incident is or isn’t random, Taylor grew up in a violent world, embraced it, claimed it, loved to run in it and refused to divorce himself from it. He ain’t the first and won’t be the last. We have no idea what happened, or if what we know now will be revised later. It’s sad, yes, but hardly surprising.

Chris Mottram, who blogs Mr. Irrelevant, reacted to Wilbon's comments: "Sure, Taylor’s had some troubles in the past, but that’s like suggesting the slutty girl from high school deserved to be raped."

If you want to believe Sean Taylor's murder was completely senseless and random, that's fine. There's nothing that will bring Taylor back, so there's not much value in playing Monday morning quarterback (or Tues, Wed, Thur, etc. for that matter). Just reduce the talking points to: "It was a senseless tragedy." And, "God had other plans for this young man." On the other hand, if you believe there's a pattern here, this might be an opportunity to have an important, constructive dialog. Wilbon's initial chatter was probably a bit raw, but in the more measured world of column writing (a craft he happens to still be very good at) he expanded on his views. He also points out some of the similaries to Len Bias's tragic death.

Wilbon writes:

The issue of separating yourself from a harmful environment is a recurring theme in the life of black men. It has nothing to do with football, or Sean Taylor or even sports. To frame it as a sports issue is as insulting as it is naive. Most of us, perhaps even the great majority of us who grew up in big urban communities, have to make a decision at some point to hang out or get out.

The kid who becomes a pharmaceutical rep has the same call to make as the lawyer or delivery guy or accountant or sportswriter or football player: Cut off anybody who might do harm, even those who have been friends from the sandbox, or go along to get along.

What we have here is another one of those Rorschach Ink Blot tests, where the meaning of Sean Talyor's murder is ultimately in the eye of the beholder. Sean Taylor, RIP.

--Marc Isenberg

Posted at 08:19 AM in NFL, Off field behavior, Racial issues | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 22, 2007

Exorcising the agent demons

San Francisco Chronicle's Tom FitzGerald provides an excellent overview of the sports agent business.

A few points from the article worth highlighting:

"Based on interviews with several established agents, it appears that it's inexperienced agents and their runners who are more apt to cross the line."

Yes, there are agents and athletes who cheat. Shocking. There's also coaches and boosters who cheat. I tend to agree with sports agent Steve Baker who was quoted in the article: "The potential for abuse is there. But, frankly, I think the system self-corrects, and those people are run out of the business."

The problem is agents with few to zero clients care little about NCAA regulations and perhaps even agent laws (which may not apply if he is not operating as an "agent"). Ultimately agent prohibitions can easily have the unintended consequence to help unethical agents gain an advantage over those who respect the rules.

If agent recruiting is anything similar to college recruiting, we know contact between athlete and agent/coach matters. That's why coaches call and text message prospects incessantly. They do whatever is allowed under NCAA rules. And some don't even stop there. Agents are no different in their quest for clients.

Cal coach Jeff Tedford said in the article, "There's nothing (agents) can do for you during the season except get you in trouble." I understand Coach Tedford's frustration. But I think people need to consider reality: everyone likes to talk about their future. Top college football players want to talk about the NFL, just like high school players want to talk about college. I agree in principle that during the season a player should only be focused on his sport and his schoolwork. But if they have time to play Madden football, they will make time to talk to agents.

Posted at 01:02 AM in Agents, NCAA sports, NFL | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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