With the NFL agent exam in the rear-view mirror, our focus turns to helping agents who’ve had a little trouble getting started. For a lot of contract advisors, it takes a while to learn a few lessons. These include:

You can’t tell a legitimate prospect where to train. At least, not one who’s in that group of 800 players in each draft class that are actually worthy of a 90-man roster spot. Obviously, there are exceptions, but usually the best players come from FBS (mostly P4) and play marquee positions (OL, DL, QB, plus a few WRs and CBs). Those players know the market will bear a good training spot and a decent stipend (monthly allowance in the low four figures, usually) from an agent. If you don’t want to pay that, you better be real good at rolling dice.

You can’t create buzz for a player no one wants. I always feel terrible when a new agent comes to me in April and asks what he can do to promote his client(s). NFL teams begin to show their respective hands three weeks out from the draft. At that point, if he’s not getting interest from scouts, there’s nothing the agent can do. Zero. You have to have solved that problem in December or January.

Like it or not, a player’s pro day performance matters a great deal. I’m old enough to remember when the Eagles got killed in the media for taking Boston College DE Mike Mamula in the 1995 draft. Because Mamula owned his pre-draft workouts (which back then were still a rather new phenomenon), Philadelphia traded up to take him seventh overall, before Warren Sapp and Hugh Douglas. Though it’s popular to criticize the “underwear Olympics,” if we’re being honest, 30 years later, workout numbers still matter just as much. One thing I learned while writing my most recent book, Value Picks, is that a poor workout almost does more damage than poor character grades, i.e., a player could be taken completely off the board for it.

Representing a player who makes it to the NFL is worth it. There’s a reason the NFLPA had to institute a three-year rule (you must get at least one player on a roster over a three-year period) to cull the herd of agents on the rolls. It’s because signing and helping a player reach his dreams in the country’s most popular sport is well worth the cost, whatever it is. Lots of people get into the business before realizing how hard it is, then give up soon after certification because they don’t have the contacts, NFL background, or recruiting skills they need to sign a player with league bona fides. They never realize how close they could have come to actually accomplishing their goals.

Next week, we’ll have a Zoom session for people who are NFLPA-certified but struggling to get a player into an NFL camp. We’ll have details about our “bridge” program and who’s eligible. If you’re an agent who just hasn’t had any luck so far, make sure you register for our Friday Wrap, which will have more information. I hope you can join us.