If you read this blog consistently (or pretty much any of ITL’s materials), you know that I estimate that there’s only about a 25 percent passing rate for aspiring agents in their first try at the test (it’s around 50 percent for the second try). The NFLPA is serious about not letting just anyone become a contract advisor.

So why is the passing rate so low? Why do so many people fail, especially the first time around? Here’s what I think.

• The test is hard: In the early 2010s, the exam was pretty tough, but manageable. Our clients passed at a 75 percent rate, a pretty comfortable level. If you put your time in and used good study materials, you had a decent shot at passing. However, in 2015, the exam took a turn toward much greater difficulty, much to the surprise of everyone who took it. Every year, when I speak to the most recent test-takers, there are many who say the exam is easy. I applaud them for their preparation and intelligence, but for the vast majority of people, it’s quite a challenge.
• Pride: Everyone who takes the exam is an accomplished person. The overwhelming majority have, at the very least, a graduate degree. Only about 14 percent of the population has a master’s, a Ph.D, a diploma from law school, etc. Start there. Then consider that many are top-notch attorneys, business owners, or otherwise established professionals. It’s natural that many of them don’t think an open-book, multiple choice exam presents much of a challenge. 
• Procrastination: Listen, I can put things off with the best of them, but the agent exam is nothing to leave until the last minute. I used to say 60 days was sufficient, but I kinda feel 90 days is more appropriate given the volume of material in the CBA. Still, it never fails that despite all my warnings, we see a serious uptick in sales of our exam prep materials starting on July 1. Some don’t even start studying until a week out. Hey, some of those people even pass, but not many. I realize $2,500 is not much money to some people, but to me, waiting to start studying in July is tantamount to setting that money on fire.
• Excessive frugality, i.e., being cheap: If you’re taking the exam, you should be prepared to set aside at least $500 on materials that will help you pass. That’s the floor. We have a number of excellent, proven materials, but we aren’t the only service on the market, and there are other good ones out there. Bottom line, this is a business that demands that you spend money sometimes. The pre-exam phase is one of those times. 

Are there other reasons people fail? Maybe, but these are the main reasons. If you’re taking the exam, please don’t fall victim to one of the above reasons (though it’s too late if you were hoping to avoid procrastination). I know you want to pass, and we want you to pass, too. Give us a shot. Here’s a little more info about what we offer. Also, make sure to sign up for our newsletter, the Friday Wrap, for information on what’s ahead over the next two-plus weeks. 

Earlier this month, I wanted to gauge the subjects in the CBA that our test-takers are struggling with most, so I put together a poll. It was pretty straightforward, and listed 19 topics. I asked participants to choose 10, but five easily garnered the most support. 

If you’re taking the exam in 26 days, I thought you might benefit from knowing what other people taking the exam are spending most of their time reviewing. Here’s a rundown of the most popular (?) topics, along with the number who listed it as among the most challenging:

Workman’s comp offsets/extended injury compensation (82 percent): This one is a biggie, obviously, which is why almost all our respondents chose it as an important topic to cover. Our CBA expert Ian Greengross, who heads instruction on all our video sessions, covers this topic in our April Zoom session. In fact, he spends a quarter of the hour-long session on this one topic. You can order it here ($35 plus tax).

Draft signals (65 percent): This one is hard because you have to gather information from a rather involved chart, then applying it to other information gathered from a different chart and doing a little math. Tracking and referencing the right chart is a big part of success on the agent exam. This topic is also covered in our April video, which you can order here. 

Exclusive rights free agency, restricted free agency, transition tag, franchise tag, exclusive franchise tag (65 percent): Like sorting out an accrued season, a season of earned credit for benefits, and a season of earned credit for salary, knowing the various levels of free agency based on player experience is critical. This is covered in our March video, which you can order here.

Termination pay (59 percent): Being able to compute what a player has coming based on his annual salary, when he made the team, when he got released, and how many weeks are left, isn’t complicated, but still can trip you up. Ian spent more than a fourth of the hour in May discussing this; you can order the video here. 

Veteran Salary Benefit (59 percent): This is another topic that requires you get all your charts straight and otherwise follow the rules established by the 2020 CBA. Not complicated, per se, but you better make sure you don’t get lost in all the numbers. This topics is also covered in the May video, which you can order here.

If you’re looking for a video rundown of almost every hot topic in the CBA, you can pick up all five of our sessions so far (February, March, April, May and June) for $175 plus tax. Order them all here. 

Whether or not you use any of our videos, I hope you find the answers you seek. My advice: whether you use or materials or someone else’s, do not go cheap in trying to pass the exam. It’s incredibly challenging, and you’ll want to take advantage of every resource you can find to make things clearer and easier to understand.

We are now one month (31 days) from July 24, when the 2023 NFLPA Collective Bargaining Exam will be held for aspiring NFL agents. If you’re taking the exam, that should give you a little urgency.

Also, if you’re taking the exam, hopefully you’re working with us on passing it. Here’s what we offer. Though there are others out there who have exam prep services, if you’re not using ours, you’re making a big mistake. Here’s why I think so.

• We were the pioneers in agent exam prep, introducing our first practice exam in 2012. We followed up with a second practice exam in 2018.
• Ours is the only service that uses a real, live, certified NFLPA contract advisor with multiple first-round clients on his resume to teach our students. Chicago-based Ian Greengross, who teaches our monthly Zoom sessions, represented LSU OH Joseph Addai (1/30, Colts, 2006) and Arkansas OH Darren McFadden (1/4, Raiders, 2008) during the pre-draft phase and on through their NFL careers. 
• This year’s first-rounders were represented by 16 firms. Of the 16, 15 have at least one agent on staff (some have several) who got certified using our exam prep materials.
• There were 34 rookie contract advisors who got at least one client on a 90-man roster this year (2023 draft). That’s a huge accomplishment for a first-year agent, especially if you’re an independent representative who’s not with any of the established firms. Of that 34, 23 worked with us on passing the exam. 
• Of the 13 rookie agents who put multiple clients on NFL rosters this year, 10 worked with us.
• Of the top 20 agencies based on draft value points since 2007 (i.e., the biggest and best firms in the industry), 16 are still active and have not been absorbed into bigger companies. Of those 16, 14 have used ITL to help in the certification process for at least one agent. Some agencies have used us to help several of its agents pass the exam.

Do our exam prep materials cost money? Sure. You’ve already spent $2,500 just to take the exam, and you probably are trying to contain costs. Remember, in the old days (pre-2020), everyone went to Washington, D.C., for three days/two nights to take the exam. That’s about $1,500 by the time you pay for a flight and spend two nights sleeping, eating and drinking at a luxury hotel. You can get everything we offer — study guide, both practice exams and all seven videos — for about half that. So you’re playing with house money.

If you’re taking the exam this summer, good luck. I really hope you pass. I also really hope you consider using our materials. We’ll give you a far, far greater chance to make it past a very challenging test. Give us a shot. 

Tuesday night, dozens of our clients who are in their first year as certified contract advisors assembled for our monthly Zoom session. This time, we were joined by Bob Morris, GM of the USFL’s Houston Gamblers. Here are a few takeaways.

• I take no joy in saying this, but it’s incredibly hard to get a small-school player into a big-school pro day, and I’d say it’s gotten harder each year over the past decade. It’s gone from “maybe we’ll let you into our pro day if your school is in our state” to “we’re gonna need at least one scout who’s attending the pro day to call and vouch for the player” to “we’re gonna need two scouts to vouch” to “we’re full.” Almost exactly a third of players signed by agents so far are from sub-FBS schools. That’s a lot of players who may not get a chance to work out for scouts.
• If you do get a player into a pro day, there’s no guarantee he’ll get to do the entire workout. Most schools use the 40 as a weed-out drill. A slow 40 might mean game over for the entire workout.
• There’s a perception that the USFL (and to some degree, the XFL) are easy backup plans for players who go undrafted. However, Bob made it clear that he’s looking for NFL-caliber players and not just any player who’s every put on pads before. Also, the USFL can’t take players who weren’t in the draft pool until after Week 3 of the season (around the end of April). If there are any positives, it’s that the player doesn’t have to undergo a physical or a tryout to become part of the player pool in May. The player just needs a USFL GM to ask the league’s personnel director, John Peterson, to add him to the pool. That way, all eight teams have a crack at him.
• In the USFL, players who are brought in for a tryout are responsible for their own travel and lodging. Hey, it’s a new league. They’re trying to be smart about spending money.
• Bob said he uses all-star appearances as a good indication of whether or not a player has even minimal appeal to an NFL team. He said he wouldn’t even consider recommending a player for a pro day if he didn’t at least participate in an all-star game.
• There are about 1,400 players signed to standard representation agreements this year. The size of the class should be down this year. Given how many Day 3 types went back to school with tidy NIL deals, the depth in the class isn’t great. That’s good news for first-year agents whose clients are more fringe.

Next month, we’ll have our final Rookie Agent Zoom, and it’s a key session. We’ll talk about draft weekend, how to gauge interest in your client, what to do if your client goes undrafted, how to spark interest and may other topics. Especially if you’re a new agent, I hope you can join us. Sign up for ITL here, or sign up for our free newsletter here.