We often get questions about our agent exam prep course, which has been under way in some form or fashion since we debuted our first practice exam in 2012. Actually, it’s not a course, but a series of exam aids; we feel that if we give test-takers, who must have advanced degrees already, the tools they need, they’re smart enough to pass. And most of the time, they do. Agent hopefuls who use our materials pass at a rate about 20 percent higher than the rest.

Here’s a quick rundown of what we offer.

ITL Study Guide: This is where we encourage everyone to start, and it’s the foundation of all we do for exam prep. It’s a 70-page PDF that is emailed to you upon purchase, usually within a half-hour or so. There could be movement on the price point here, so if you’re waffling over whether or not to purchase the study guide, don’t wait too long.  

ITL practice exams: We have two, which must be purchased sequentially. Exam 1 ($200 plus tax for non-ITL clients, $150 plus tax for clients) and Exam 2 ($100/$75) are both 40-question, multiple choice test with the answer key and explanations at the end. We’ll be updating it soon; nothing major, just a few tweaks to make the dates more current. We hope to have that done by the end of the month, maybe sooner. We do not expect to raise prices on our exams this year. 

Monthly Zoom study sessions: This is something that’s new, and that we’re really excited about. We started these very late in the cycle last year, but due to their popularity, we had our second 2022 session last night. It’s led by Chicago-based Ian Greengross of Ultimate Sports Agency. Ian is more than just an accomplished agent (he’s negotiated multiple first-round deals and represents a combine pick this year); he’s encyclopedic in his knowledge of the CBA, and as someone who’s also a sports law professor, he has a teacher’s way of expressing some pretty complicated rules in a clear way. Right now, our plan is to have our next session April 14. We usually have them semi-late at night (9 p.m. ET) to accommodate people with demanding jobs and/or kids that need to be put to bed, and we go about an hour. Contact us for more information.

One-on-one lessons: If you want to dig into the CBA even more and have specific areas that confuse you, I recommend you use Ian. He offers reasonable hourly rates over Zoom or phone, and has been working with agent hopefuls for a couple of years now. Once again, contact us and we’ll be happy to connect you.

ITL membership: If you haven’t passed the exam yet, maybe becoming a member isn’t for you yet. On the other hand, if this business if your passion, you need to start learning about the industry in a way that simply preparing for the exam doesn’t do. Obviously, joining ITL also gets you a discount on both practice exams, so if that’s something you plan to do, you might as well sign up, if only to purchase the exams, then unsubscribe. You’re never obligated more than 30 days at ITL; you can cancel at any time.

Of course, the best way to know when our Zoom sessions are and what changes we are making to our exam prep program is to read our Friday Wrap, which is totally free and comes out at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can register for it here. Here’s last week’s edition.

Wednesday night, dozens of members of the 2021 NFL agent class joined me on Zoom. Our topic was the 2022 pre-draft all-star cycle, which is bursting at the seams with eight games on the schedule from early January to mid-February. With so many games and so many changes across the board, there’s a lot to know if you’re a new contract advisor.

Here are a few highlights from what we discussed:

• One of the crucial mistakes that new agents make is to wait until December (or even January) to start pitching all-star games on players. Granted, newer agents take longer to get real traction with draft-eligible players, so it takes longer for them to have a player to promote. Still, if you’re reading this and you’re a new agent, start reaching out to games as soon as you get a player to express interest in signing with you.
• It’s also a risk to promote a player you haven’t signed, because often all-star berths make players more attractive to established contract advisors. However, when you don’t have a client list to point to, you need to have something. 
• If you’re a new agent, you need to understand (a) the effect being placed on the Senior Bowl watch list has on a player and (b) the effect getting publicly invited to any all-star game has. Both artificially (and mostly incorrectly) enhance a player’s estimation of his draft status. Every year, about 500 players go to all-star games (far more than that this year). There are only about 100 players selected on the first two days of the draft, and most of those hundred are underclassmen or players who skipped all-star games. That means the lion’s share of all-star game participants are competing for 150 draft slots. Just because a player’s an all-star doesn’t mean he’s an NFL star. The math just doesn’t work. So if you’re an agent, understand this, and stick to your budget.
• One question I always get from agents is a simple one: what should I wear to all-star games? It’s actually a valid question. You don’t want to over-dress and look dumb, and you don’t want to be too casual and look like some kind of weird fan. I recommend a casually professional look, i.e., slacks and a collared shirt. If you feel strongly about wearing a sport coat, that’s not a bad move. I don’t recommend looking like you just stepped off the set of the first Matrix movie, and I don’t recommend wearing a three-piece suit. In other words, don’t try to look like you’re the coolest person in town and don’t try to look like someone you aren’t. 

This is just a quick overview of what we discussed this week. Here are some of the other topics.

• Who, how and when to contact about getting a player into an all-star game
• Costs (if any) associated with each of the respective games
• Background/insights on each of the games’ executive directors
• The general form/schedule of an all-star week
• Which ones will have significant scout coverage and which ones might not
• When you should arrive, what you should do, how you should conduct yourself
• History, success rate of participating players
• Protocol/etiquette for withdrawing a player from a game
• What to say when a game claims there’s no room for your client
• What to tell your client before he goes

If you’re a new agent, or even a recent one, I hope you can join us next month. Next month’s topic will include the cost of representing players, choosing a trainer, how to retard excess costs, etc. All you have to do is become an ITL client. You can do that here if you aren’t already part of the ITL family.

Also, if this topic matters to you, make sure to sign up for our Friday Wrap here. 

A little more than a week ago, prospective NFLPA contract advisors got the results from the CBA exam they took this summer. So what’s their next step? Well, getting out the checkbook, unfortunately — they now have to pay their NFLPA and insurance fees. After that, however, it will be time to get started on one of the most exciting years of their professional careers.

I get a lot of questions this time of year on what a rookie agent needs to do to jump-start their nascent careers. Here’s what I tell them.

• Don’t even consider players that are rated Day 1/Day 2 by any draft services: Look, NIL signings (check our grid here) have reduced the number of players who are even in the draft pool, especially when it comes to the true marquee players in the ’22 draft class. You need to instead know which players are Day 3/UDFA prospects on the FBS level. We do that for all 120-odd FBS schools in our Profile Reports. By the end of the first week of October, we’ll have broken down each of the  129 D-1 schools.
• Recruit locally: Yes, Zoom has changed the way contract advisors recruit, and your travel costs will be reduced. However, at some point, you will need to sit in a player’s living room and pitch your services. It’s cheaper and easier to do that — especially when a player gives you a last-minute invite — if you can drive there. We list the hometowns of top players in our Profile Reports. More on them later.
• When recruiting, target non-sexy positions that are in high demand: Most agents are excited about the industry and want to sign players a little like they draft their fantasy team, i.e., they want touchdown-scorers. There’s a better way. Consider our Draft by the Numbers summaries over the past seven years to know exactly which positions are actually in demand, and which ones are over-saturated when it comes to NFL quotas. You might be surprised to find out which positions are  signed most heavily, and which ones are most scarce.

Here’s a look at 10 more questions we usually get:

• Which states should I register in? Which ones are less restrictive?
• Which all-star games should I pursue to for invitations for my players? How do I know who to contact? How do I contact them?
• What do I say when I get to the final presentation with a client?
• Who are the affordable and competent trainers? What do I say to a player who wants to go to a trainer I don’t know, or can’t afford?
• The player’s school tells me I can’t talk to him until after the season. What do I do now?

For answers to these questions and more, consider becoming part of the ITL family. We will address all these topics in the ITL Rising Contract Advisor Newsletter, which starts in November and continues through draft day as part of our $29.95/mo cost. It’s no extra charge, and covers pretty much every topic that needs to be covered. If you used our exam prep materials, you already know what our newsletter is like.

Want even more? Make sure you’re registered for our Friday Wrap, where we talk about all these topics every week. The key to success in this industry is keeping abreast of all the information related to the business as it happens, and the Wrap (you can register for it here) is a wise step in that direction. Join the nearly 6,000 NFL insiders (agents, scouts, coaches, players and their parents, marketing professionals, compliance experts, trainers, wealth managers and more) who read our industry missive every week.

Hundreds of people who used our exam prep materials are slogging through Day 2 of the NFLPA’s pre-exam seminar. They’ve had lots of thought about what they’ve seen and heard during this year’s first-ever online-only sessions. Here are a few of their texts and my commentary.

• “Some of these questions are ridiculous. Like they have never even opened the CBA before. I mean holy (bleep), just wasting my time.” It never ceases to amaze me how many people come to the exam almost completely unprepared. Because it’s open book and multiple choice and the results are scaled, some of these people will slide through, but just barely. Is that how you want to launch your agent career? The NFLPA does a good job of presenting a difficult exam. If you’re planning on taking it some day, make sure you prepare.

• “They are asking about what a family will receive on death of a player. That will not be on the exam.” Correct. See above. 
   

• “They go at warp speed. If you came into this expecting to be taught what you need to know, you’re in big trouble.” Also: “Honestly – I would be lost trying to learn it now during class. They go sooooo fast.” The CBA is 700 pages. Yes, there’s fluff, but there’s a lot of meat, too. NFLPA officials do the best they can. The people who winged it will probably be back next year (did I mention that we sell a study guide?). I guess at least those who fail don’t have to shell out to fly to DC twice?

• “Some people are fishing too deep and I tried to block them out. . .  The NFLPA was nice as well, they seemed to be trying to help us. Telling us what’s important and what to focus on. I feel good heading into day 2.” I think a lot of people — even those who have studied hard — panic until they get into the seminar and NFLPA officials narrow down the scope of things. At the same time, some of the out-of-left-field questions not only bugged those who are mostly prepared for the exam, but actually confused them. A cleanup of the question-and-answer process is probably something the PA will have to work on before next year, presuming they stay with the online format.

• “I want you to know how awesome you’ve been and how helpful the study guide and practice exams have been. This is the first exam since I think high school where I felt super prepared. Thank you!” Sorry if this is a little self-serving, but we’re proud of the service we provide, and it’s incredibly rewarding to get unsolicited comments like this one.

We’ll be discussing the exam more in detail in this week’s Friday Wrap, which is free. Register here. Hope you can join us.