Confessions of an Agent

[mwill07]

link

read the whole story - it's worth it.

[RhymesayersDU]

Twitter was blowing up about this. Thanks for the reminder. Need to read this.

[Dagmar]

Fantastic article.

[BroncoDoug]

it was very good

[BroncoSojia]

I saw this on another Football site, very interesting stuff.

Almost instantly we got some new clients, including troubled Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett (for whom we did some of our best work; a player no team should have touched got taken in the third round).

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this quote

[broncosteven]

Anyone who doesn't think this goes on in some format is a fool or fooling themselves.

It is almost like the Steroids in Baseball scandal.

[That One Guy]

Haven't they since required that an agent has to have at least a masters degree to be certified? Take the unprofessionals out of the system and you'd have a different field to work with. Get people who have too much invested to lose it all and have their name ruined.

[strafen]

Originally Posted by broncosteven

Anyone who doesn't think this goes on in some format is a fool or fooling themselves.

It is almost like the Steroids in Baseball scandal.

I agree.
It's a darkside of the business not many people know much about.
Entertaining story. Good stuff...

[strafen]

Question...
Do agents get paid commission based on the whole amount of a contract, or do they only get the commission of the guaranteed portion of the contract?
Anybody cares to discuss?

[That One Guy]

Originally Posted by strafen

I agree.
It's a darkside of the business not many people know much about.
Entertaining story. Good stuff...

It kinda came across though as just a name drop session. He basically insinuates at the end that he did just that to have an article tell his side of the story but since he mentioned all the stuff agents do for their clients, I would've preferred a more well rounded story.

Good no less, just could've been better considering a book I recently read.

[That One Guy]

Originally Posted by strafen

Question...
Do agents get paid commission based on the whole amount of a contract, or do they only get the commission of the guaranteed portion of the contract?
Anybody cares to discuss?

They get paid up front for the guarranteed and periodically for the rest as the player gets paid.

[strafen]

Originally Posted by That One Guy

They get paid up front for the guarranteed and periodically for the rest as the player gets paid.

Thanks.
That makes sense, the agent gets paid when the player does...

[baja]

The guy is a good writer

[SouthStndJunkie]

Very good read.

[broncocalijohn]

SImple rules to the NFL: You get busted for taking payments in college, you forfeit a year of playing and agent is banned for 5 years. I am sooo glad Keyshaun Johnson did not accept. After the Bush fiasco, a little sunshine on USC.

[Drek]

Nice to see a little public service announcement on how Mel Kiper is a crook and how his draft rankings are a joke.

[That One Guy]

Originally Posted by broncocalijohn

SImple rules to the NFL: You get busted for taking payments in college, you forfeit a year of playing and agent is banned for 5 years. I am sooo glad Keyshaun Johnson did not accept. After the Bush fiasco, a little sunshine on USC.

I was quite impressed that he turned down the money. Not something I would've expected.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by Drek

Nice to see a little public service announcement on how Mel Kiper is a crook and how his draft rankings are a joke.

Clearly you didn't read the follow up bullet points in the end. Kiper denies the allegations.

[TheElusiveKyleOrton]

Originally Posted by That One Guy

It kinda came across though as just a name drop session. He basically insinuates at the end that he did just that to have an article tell his side of the story but since he mentioned all the stuff agents do for their clients, I would've preferred a more well rounded story.

Good no less, just could've been better considering a book I recently read.

Which was...?

I thought it was an interesting article. What astounded me was Al Williams denying that any of the CU allegations were true. He even called them "impossible," which seems a bit strong. I somehow doubt he was with Kanavis McGhee at all times his senior year.

[Beantown Bronco]

Originally Posted by BroncoSojia

I saw this on another Football site, very interesting stuff.

Almost instantly we got some new clients, including troubled Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett (for whom we did some of our best work; a player no team should have touched got taken in the third round).

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this quote

As I mentioned in the other thread about this, I find it kind of odd that the agent would consider this "some of their best work" when you consider Clarett said "no" to the $400K signing bonus the Broncos offered and instead signed a fully incentive-based contract that essentially resulted in his agents making nothing on that signing. Not a dime.

Great work, guys.

[_Oro_]

In the end he claims he's writing this to clear his name for his kids but, I think it he just comes off as slimy throughout the whole thing. Even in the conclusion he makes a mistake, the thing with the check, and gets suspended and basically kicked out of his profession. Sounds to me this check thing was completely his own fault. His own ignorance caused him to get suspended.

So what does he do? He goes and starts ratting everyone out.

Awesome.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by Beantown Bronco

As I mentioned in the other thread about this, I find it kind of odd that the agent would consider this "some of their best work" when you consider Clarett said "no" to the $400K signing bonus the Broncos offerred and instead signed a fully incentive-based contract that essentially resulted in his agents making nothing on that signing. Not a dime.

Great work, guys.

He was referring to the fact that he got Clarett drafted at all. Making money is what agents do but their JOB is to improve the draft status of their clients - usually resulting in them making more money. By getting Clarett drafted in the 3rd round, those guys did one hell of a job in all honesty because the man should not have been drafted by anyone.

[Beantown Bronco]

I understand that part, but that happens every draft. Someone gets drafted waaaay higher than they should've and it has nothing to do with the agents IMO. It has to do with (1) some team's simply being morons when it comes to drafting, especially in the first round (Al Davis, I'm looking at you); (2) some teams greatly over-valuing what they see in the combines; (3) or some teams just falling in love with certain guys and panicking when there is a run on the position.

I simply disagree with the notion that agents have that much sway over how high some of their guys go. On the contrary, I think some agents have the opposite effect. It's well known that some teams essentially blacklist guys represented by Drew Rosenhaus.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Story could make a good movie... The Dark Side of Jerry McGuire.

[That One Guy]

Originally Posted by ThatOneDenverMooseGuy

Which was...?

I thought it was an interesting article. What astounded me was Al Williams denying that any of the CU allegations were true. He even called them "impossible," which seems a bit strong. I somehow doubt he was with Kanavis McGhee at all times his senior year.

I guess that did come across unnecessarily vague.

I read "How I helped OJ get away with murder" which was written by OJs marketing agent and he went into the details of all the stuff he did from hiding affairs for OJ and Marcus Allen to covering up drug usage to helping OJ hide property from the Goldman's. I know this was intended to be less detailed but surely the extent of these guys trying to court athletes doesn't end at just throwing money their way or Janet Jackson concerts.