Category Archives: Getting started

Work in Football? First Combine? Here Are a Few Tips

10 Tuesday Feb 2026

Posted by in combine prep, Getting started, NFL draft, Scouts

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I always kinda thought people who work in college personnel offices knew the drill when it comes to the NFL Combine, but I recently came to the understanding that they don’t, given how busy their jobs are. I’ve previously written about how to approach the NFL Combine if you’re a job-seeker, but let’s say you work as a personnel director at a P4 school. When should you get to Indy? When should you leave? Here are a few thoughts.

First, know the deadline for getting credentialed: It’s Saturday. You’re going to want to apply before then if you want access to Lucas Oil Stadium. This page has all the details. This is where you actually apply.

But before you apply: You need to know which (if any) of the players at your school are invited and when they’ll be working out. If you haven’t already heard from the players at your school, sometime this week, the NFL will publish the entire list of 350-odd players. Obviously, they don’t all work out on the same day. Click here to find out when they will test. Obviously, this will determine when you need to be there to offer support.

What if your school doesn’t have any combine invitees?: I recommend one of two schedules. At the very least, come in Thursday night so you can attend our symposium Friday morning. We’re hopeful that there will be 50 P4 schools represented, most by their GMs. We’re also going to have a who’s who of top NIL agents there. It’s going to be big. Here’s a more detailed rundown of what to expect. Best of all, if you’re a member of an FBS college personnel staff, you don’t have to pay. You only have to register, which you can do here.

So you arrive Thursday. When should you leave?: Here’s what I recommend. Indianapolis will be filled to the brim with NFL and college football types Friday night. Hit the town. I’d recommend grabbing a meal downtown, then hitting High Velocity, the bar at the JW Marriott, that evening. It will be jam-packed with NFL scouts and executives, agents, wealth managers, and others in the industry of every stripe. It’s a great chance to renew acquaintances or make new ones. Come to think of it, it’s probably not a bad idea to hit High Velocity Thursday night as well.

What if you have more time?: I strongly recommend you come in Wednesday afternoon and join us at our seminar. It’s the Academy Awards of the scouting business, and it’s free (you don’t even have to register). It starts at 5:30 p.m. and will go about an hour. We’ll have 150-200 scouts there and it’s a lot of fun. We’ll hand out more than 30 awards and there’s a celebratory atmosphere that you don’t always find in football. I hope you can join us. More details are here.

Six Points: A Few More Tips and Ideas for Getting a Job This Time of Year

06 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Getting started, NFL draft, NIL, Scouts

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This time of year I get a lot of people reaching out to ask about tips on getting a job in scouting, college or pro. Here are a few more things to think about and/or ideas for you.

Update your LinkedIn: I used to dismiss people who serially updated their LinkedIn page, but I have to admit it’s nice to have someone’s complete employment history readily available. I know some people really overdo it, but if you use it judiciously it can be a really positive tool. I know it’s been easy to advise people when they ask for counsel on finding a job when I can review their LinkedIn pages first. By the way, if you really want to go the extra mile, set up a Linktree.

Go to the Combine: I know it’s intimidating, and can be costly, but you can figure it out. The Senior Bowl is no longer the best place to network. Indy isn’t easy — there are a few events you can attend, including ours — but mostly you’re going to need to be in the right place at the right time, eager to seize an opportunity. It’s a risk you have to take.

Seek out volunteer opportunities in Indy: It’s too late to land something with an NFL team or with combine organizers, but there are enough things going on that a helping hand might be needed. Think outside the box. There’s no better way to make a connection than to be a good worker. If you can’t find a football organization, maybe reach out to an agency that you know has players at workouts.

Renew all your key acquaintances: It’s not easy to stay in contact with everyone in your neighborhood 24-7, and if you’re not carefully, you can come across as inauthentic. Still, you should be able to think of a reason to reach out to everyone who could be pivotal, job-wise, over the next 60-90 days. For example, you could ask when they get in to Indianapolis. Or wish them a happy President’s Day, I guess. If they show up on a podcast, make sure you compliment them — genuinely — and make it clear with context that you actually listened. Obviously, a job change (especially a promotion) gives you an automatic opportunity, as well. The key is to remind them, subtly, that you’re around.

Don’t forget about business cards: I know they’re passe’ but the fact is, they’re cheap and they fit easily into someone’s wallet. You don’t have to walk around with a wad of cards in your hand. Just have them ready if the need arises.

Remember that information is key: You need to know something that potential employers don’t. I do not think you should carry around your latest mock draft. But I do think you need to be ready with information on the upcoming players on your current team, or inside information on what jobs might be available on your own team, or anything else. If you don’t have anything, don’t fake it. But there’s no better way to prove your future value to a potential employer than by having something you can offer now.

One more thing — make sure to know where recent scouting hires have come from, which teams you should be focusing on and, well, read this, too. Good luck.

2026 NFL Agent Exam: A Few First Thoughts

09 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by in Agent Exam, Agents, Getting started

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In the last few days, we’ve been contacted by several people who’ve registered to take this summer’s agent exam. I tweeted about it earlier today, but sometimes a tweet just isn’t enough. Here are a few more thoughts about achieving your dreams if you aspire to represent pro football players.

Our program starts in February: As always, we’ll have monthly Zoom sessions as we systematically cover each segment of the CBA. I’d argue that no one knows the CBA better than our instructor, Chicago-based Ian Greengross. Ian has led our program for several years now and dozens of successful test-takers got good results because of Ian.

Actually, we don’t really have a program: There are services out there charging close to $2,000 for bunch of classes. If you take all our classes, i.e., our Zoom sessions, which cover the CBA comprehensively, you spend $250. Stick around for our final review and our stress test, and you’re still under $400. We even tell you in advance what topics we cover in each session, so if you already have a handle on the topics in one session, keep your money. You’re not obligated to attend. Again, no obligations.

We have a special deal for you if this is your second try: Our partners at Stratic, Shane Costa and Christian Kranz of Generation Sports Group, offer a sensational alternative program, especially if you only have one last shot. It’s a little more intensive and a little more directed. It’s a bit more of a financial commitment, but it’s worth it. Especially if it’s fourth down, figuratively speaking, but even if you’ve never taken the exam before. Contact us and we’ll get you all the details. You won’t be sorry if you choose this option.

We’re improving our popular practice exams: We’re working on converting our two practice exams, maybe our most popular pre-exam feature, into one exam that changes questions each time you take it. It will be like taking a new practice exam every time. Our goal was to get this done last year, but we got a late start. We hope to have this completed at least by May, well before the final push.

You don’t have to wait until February to order our study guide: Our first Zoom session is about six weeks off and we won’t update our practice exams for a few months. However, if you’re registered now and eager to get going on things, you can order our study guide today. It’s pricey ($400 plus tax) but probably worth double that. In fact, if you only get one thing in preparation for the exam, get our study guide. It’s a 70-page PDF. Order it and we’ll have it in your inbox within an hour.

We will work with half-to-two thirds of the rising agent class, but if you’re one of our people, you’ll find we’re devoted to helping you pass. I hope we can work together. Let’s make it happen. If you have more questions, make sure to contact us at @Insidetheleague. DMs are always open.

Here’s Where NFL Scouting Hires Have Come From (Since 2023)

26 Friday Dec 2025

Posted by in Getting started, Scouts

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Over the past few weeks in this space, we’ve been focused on helping aspiring NFL scouts improve their chances over the next few months. In mid-December, we had a few general tips on the job search. Last week, we told you what to look for in a team with openings.

This week, let’s take a look at where the “entry-level” hires in the league came from over the last three years. We’ll count “player personnel assistants” and “scouting assistants” as entry-level positions. Here goes.

2025 (32 hires)

  • Sixteen came directly from college scouting positions. Of the 12, just three were non-P4, and just two were sub-FBS.
  • Eight were working in some capacity with NFL teams already, with seven of the eight getting promoted and staying with the same team.
  • Two moved up from non-NFL coaching positions, one high school and one small-college.
  • Two were with BLESTO.
  • One was technically not in football (though he worked at ESPN).
  • We couldn’t find any background info on three of the hires, which probably means they were employed in jobs outside of football.

2024 (49 hires)

  • Twenty were hired from college teams. Of the 20, 13 were from P4 schools, while five were from G5. Just two were sub-FBS.
  • Fourteen were promoted from an intern-level position; just one wasn’t promoted by the team he was already working for.
  • Three came from quasi-football organizations (Haslam Sports Group, 49ers Investments, and Stanford’s collective).
  • Two came from the Senior Bowl.
  • One didn’t work in football.
  • We couldn’t find any background on nine of the hires.

2023 (17 hires)

  • Nine came from schools. Six were P4, one was G5, two were sub-FBS.
  • Four were promoted from within; all of them were promoted by the teams they already worked with.
  • One was promoted from the Senior Bowl.
  • We could find no info on three of them.

So here are our observations.

  • If you are already working in a college personnel department, you have the inside track. If you’re at a P4 school, so much the better.
  • The best non-school “feeder programs” are BLESTO (not NFS, for some reason) and the Senior Bowl. If you’re really intent on working as an NFL scout, maybe Step 1 is landing a job with one of these organizations.
  • About a fourth of the new scouting assistants hired every year moved up from other positions with the team, but you already knew that working for an NFL team gives you a big advantage.
  • If you’re not already working in football, you’d better have an angle. For example, one of the hires from “private business” is the son of an NFL front office employee.

Good luck! For more on the industry, check out our newsletter, the Friday Wrap. Register for it here.

Words of Christmas Counsel During a Busy Time

05 Friday Dec 2025

Posted by in Getting started

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December is funny for people who work in football.

You’re watching all your friends gear down. Celebrate the season. Attend Christmas parties. Take time off, etc. Meanwhile, depending on the specific area of the sport you are part of, you’re:

  • Working hard to find your coaching client a job or some opportunity.
  • Working with a school to find the best possible front office or coaching hire.
  • Trying to find your own opportunity at a new school in coaching or personnel/recruiting
  • Making decisions on investments of several thousand dollars with players who may or may not have NFL futures
  • Figuring out who’s in the portal, who’s worth a financial commitment, and who will fit your team’s culture (or trying to talk a player out of entering the portal)
  • Pressing an all-star director to get your client (or potential client) into his game
  • Trying to decide which agent is best for you
  • Wondering if you’ll still have a job in early January when the NFL season ends
  • Otherwise weighing your football (and, probably, life) purpose or destination

For all these reasons, it’s easy to react the wrong way when you’re pressed. Recently, one of my best agent friends sent a completely innocuous and professional text to a member of the P4 personnel community (whom I also happen to know). The response he got was remarkable, in a bad way — dismissive, inflammatory and abrupt. Despite this, he responded in a very accommodating and patient way, and got more abuse for his troubles.

Another example is something one of the all-star directors told me recently. “A lot of these guys I’m dealing with right now are NIL people and they just don’t understand what’s going on with all-star games. They are not dumb by any means, they just don’t have any experience.” He went on to give a couple of examples: “I call the agent and they blow me off . . . Or they take my call and then just blow me off thereafter.”

I’ve been there, believe me. You might have been there, too, and if you haven’t, you will be. People get treated the wrong way all the time in this business. Here’s what to remember when it happens.

  • It’s a high-pressure business. If you work in the game, it’s a privilege. Try to remember that and recognize that you might be in the same situation someday soon.
  • Nobody’s perfect. Yes, there are a lot of egos in this game, but maybe the offending person wasn’t acting personally. Maybe he just got flamed and you happened to be the next person he had contact with.
  • The football world is a very small one. Chances are, you will see that person again. You may need him. On the other hand, if you can’t take the high road, at least think of the low road. You will probably get a shot at revenge if you’re in the game long enough.
  • It’s Christmas. Try to give people grace. It’s been rare, but there have actually been times when people have apologized to me. I’ve seen one person I really respect have to do that multiple times over the past few weeks because he’s new in his position and still learning the demands of the job.

Points of Interest Following Conversations with Multiple College Personnel Staffers

31 Friday Oct 2025

Posted by in Getting started, NIL, Scouts, Transfer portal

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There was a time when pretty much everyone working in a college football personnel office aspired to work in the League. That’s not the case anymore, and that was underlined this weekend as I spent a few days talking to personnel staffers at local schools or who were in town for games this weekend.

The people working in higher-level positions on college personnel staffs are highly knowledgeable of the life and work of today’s area scout, and they are none too excited about taking such a position. Too much volatility, not enough power, not enough pay. The people I spoke to would instead want some kind of administrative position that also gave them say in personnel decisions and the ability to make their own evaluations. That’s just not how the NFL is set up, which is why the enthusiasm for going to the pros is waning, at least based on the conversations I’ve had and am having. Ironically, more area scouts than ever are asking me if I’ve heard of any college jobs they might be able to fill.

Also interesting:

  • Schools are sending more members of their evaluation team out on the road to see players in person, closer to a simulation of the NFL model. The problem they’re running into is that they are limited in the number they can send out, and those people must be designated in advance with the compliance office. If there’s one change that seems unanimous, schools would like to see the rules eased so they can do more in-person scouting. 
  • One thing I learned that was surprising: we’re starting to see college grads who didn’t work in a personnel office during their pre-degree days begin to volunteer in a different school’s personnel office (for free, remember) in an effort to get hired somewhere. Often, they move in with a relative within driving distance of a school, grind tape and do whatever they have to do, and work until an opportunity arrives. Very interesting. Schools are seeking out potential volunteers by sifting through LinkedIn and social media.
  • The CAC is still a thing, though in these days when players are staying in college longer than ever, it doesn’t seem to play such a crucial role. 
  • Executives I spoke to said he’s happy to work with NIL agents, and even encourages these relationships. He only wishes there was some kind of regulating body that maintained standards. 
  • We in Texas think of the Metroplex (Fort Worth and Dallas) as one big city, almost, but it’s not. In fact, some schools only recruit from different regions of the Fort Worth/Dallas megalopolis, and don’t like the makeup of players from other sections. One Metroplex school recruits Houston more heavily than it does Dallas. 
  • With the new portal window in early January, December looks like it will be similar to the NFL’s “legal tampering” period, only it will be a month instead of a week. That’s unlucky for the teams in bowl play but a big benefit for the CFP teams that will still be playing in January. It’s going to be especially warmly received by G5 schools who’ve grown accustomed to P4 schools picking off starters in late May. Try finding a key corner, left tackle or outside receiver a week before summer training starts. Especially one you can’t pay. 
  • One downside of the new January portal window, at least in Texas, is that state schools begin the new semester two days (I think) before the portal closes. No enrollment equals no eligibility, so Lone Star State colleges are really going to have to move quickly to close deals, then get players registered for classes, in the space of just a few days.
  • One way bigger schools are getting away with staying under the rev-share cap, but getting talented high school players in, is by paying them their Year 1 NIL share before they get to campus. Some high schoolers are getting $800,000 lump sum payments that don’t count against the $20.5 million as long as they are done post-graduation and pre-enrollment.
  • There is still a small number of NFL agents working in the portal, relatively speaking. I spoke to one official who had only dealt with two NFLPA-certified contract advisors over the past year. Here’s another phenomenon: we’re starting to see college staffers quit, then immediately turn into portal agents representing the players at the school where they formerly worked. Unethical, maybe, but totally legal.
  • While some players have a big week on the field and then try immediately to turn that into NIL dollars, the G5 GM I spoke to this weekend basically said he’d like to see one of his school’s players try that. Hopefully, as the market of players grows, the number of outlandish asks will be reduced.
  • There will not be a Big 12 Combine this year, we’re told. That’s a big story, as the conference had tried for two years (despite scouts’ protests) to aggregate its schools’ March workouts into one made-for-TV event. It was never as efficient as hoped, and didn’t score ratings. Now, apparently, it’s officially gone. 
  • There seems to be a dissatisfaction with Hudl, both from a cost standpoint (the company recently raised its prices) and a services standpoint (limited expansion of new services). That’s not stopping anyone from subscribing, though. It’s a must-have if you want to be part of college football, one official insisted, and it’s true. It has no competition and a tremendous head start on anyone else trying to get into the space.

The dialogue isn’t over. Want to continue the conversation? Register for the Friday Wrap, which is free and comes out this evening.

Are NFL Front Offices Getting Smaller?

17 Friday Oct 2025

Posted by in Getting started, NFL draft, Scouts

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Today in the Friday Wrap, we’ll conduct our annual fall breakdown of NFL front offices. We’ll look at how their respective college scouting staffs stack up against their pro scouting and analytics staffs, track growth (or reduction) of each, look at where teams are directing their budgets, and otherwise try to sift out the trends.

Based on my observations over the last 24-48 hours, here’s the takeaway: NFL teams are trying to do more with less, at least as it relates to actual, traditional members of the front office. I’ll get into why this is in a minute, but this shouldn’t catch you off-guard if you’ve been following the league for the last few years. Consider:

  • More and more owners are coming from non-football backgrounds.
  • They’re business first, and less about the game for its sports value and more for its entertainment value (there’s a difference).
  • They want to see a return on investment, and that’s probably defensible given how leveraged most of them have to be simply to buy a team.
  • Making money depends on spending less, and generally speaking, that means spending less on your workforce. This is one reason only 10 teams are still in the pension program, as of earlier this year. If you think about it, it’s incredible that 32 companies that are printing money are too cheap to provide a lasting financial commitment to the 20-or-so employees they have in their respective front offices.
  • There’s also the Covid effect. When lockdowns closed the country in the spring of 2020, the NFL changed how it did its evolution, but football didn’t grind to a halt. I think a lot of teams (especially owners and bean-counters) did a lot of thinking after that.

So why do I say the “human element” of scouting is in decline?

  • Let’s start with the average size of an NFL scouting staff. For the first time since we started tracking things in 2021, the mean size of NFL scouting staffs decreased slightly (from 23.81 in 2024 to 23.47). It’s not much, but it’s significant after staffs were growing by about a scout a year in 2022-23.
  • In 2024, only three teams (Chiefs, Bengals and Dolphins) had fewer than four area scouts. This year, there are four (the Rams, with just one staffer designated as an “area scout,” have just one). Granted, titles aren’t uniform across the league, and teams break up duties in different ways, but this is still notable.
  • It’s anecdotal, but in my work gathering the information to put together our Scouts by Area Grid (an annual board listing the specific scouts each of the 32 teams uses to cover areas of the country), I found out that a handful of teams still haven’t made even one visit to some of the bigger schools in the country. It’s mid-October. That’s amazing.

So what other trends are apparent? We’ll be discussing it all in today’s Friday Wrap, which comes out this evening (7:30 p.m. EST). If scouting is your life goal, or if the business of the NFL is an interest, I hope you’ll check it out. Register here.

What To Do If You Failed the Agent Exam Twice

09 Tuesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Agent Exam, Agents, Getting started, NIL

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The day that the NFL Agent Exam results come out — in this case, last Thursday — is a very exciting one. It’s an awesome feeling to see some of the hundreds of people we work with during the pre-exam phase realize they are going to get to live their dreams, and I get to share that celebration with them.

On the other hand, for those who get bad news, there’s pretty much nothing to say to minimize the pain. That’s especially true of those who fail for a second time and who are staring at a five-year wait (and another $2500) just to try again.

Today, I’ve given a lot of thought to what to tell those people. Here’s what I came up with.

Don’t let this defeat you. Let’s start here. If you are even qualified to take the exam, you have a secondary degree and a clean record financially and criminally. This means there are a lot of things you can do in life. We estimate that about a quarter of test-takers pass on the first try and about half pass on the second try. This is easily the toughest agent exam of the four majors. If you come up short, you are far from alone, and you shouldn’t let this define you.

Consider an appeal. The testing service the NFLPA uses is far from perfect, and I’ve heard of at least one new agent who passed despite long delays (including two complete computer shutdowns in the last hour of taking the exam). I also heard about odd experiences at the testing center in July (like site officials disallowing materials the NFLPA clearly allows). If this was you, don’t be a martyr. I think you have 30 days to appeal the results. Don’t mess around. Hire an attorney if needed.

Really decide if you want to stay on this journey. There is no shame in turning around. This business eats people alive. You have talent. Decide if you want to use it on people who, in many cases, will not appreciate you. I’m just trying to be honest.

Take a sales job somewhere. For new agents, the job is not really about negotiation (popular misconception). It’s about sales. You’re selling yourself. If there’s one reason why most agents fail, it’s because they are not comfortable with the vagaries of talking to others, listening to them, figuring out their hopes and fears, and addressing them . . . which is pretty much what sales is. You won’t be able to succeed in this industry without sales talent. Oh, and one other thing.

Save your money. The other main reason people fail in this industry is lack of resources. You’re looking at $10,000, minimum, to get one player ready for the draft these days (or at least one who’s worth representing). Believe me, people try to do it without money, but the overwhelming majority fail. Go out and try to save $20,000-$30,000 in the next five years, and then come back ready for war.

Embrace life as an NIL agent. If you want to really see what this business looks like, go out and try to represent high school and college players seeking to make money in the portal or otherwise. We are in a truly unique time when there’s a chance to make lots of money representing players in a largely unregulated environment with almost no start-up costs. Success is about seizing opportunities, and there’s lots of opportunity on the NIL front. You might even realize you’re good at it and decide you don’t need to work on the NFL side. Really. That might happen.

If you’re in this difficult but select group, I hope you found this helpful and maybe even a little encouraging. I have some idea of what you went through to get here, and can only imagine the frustration. But you can still make something great happen. Just give yourself a chance.

Getting NFLPA-Certified? Don’t Make These Three Mistakes

22 Friday Aug 2025

Posted by in Agent Exam, Agents, Getting started, NFL draft

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We’re expecting results of the 2025 NFL Agent Exam a week from today, next Friday. That would make 38 days from exam to answers, right on track with last year’s term of 39 days. If you took the exam, you’re probably getting antsy, but before you find out if you passed or not, there are a few strategic errors you need to not make.

After sifting through how every agent did (draftees, UDFAs, tryouts and signees that didn’t achieve anything), both in the 2023 and 2024 agent classes (sorry, pay links), here are a few major mistakes that were made.

Signing no one in Year 1: It seems crazy, but 49 of the 140 contract advisors certified last year didn’t sign a single player for the 2025 draft. These people waited all their lives to get certified, passed a difficult test, then got nothing out of their rookie years. Still, that’s nothing compared to the 2023 class, in which 79 of the 164 first-year agents (close to half the class) skipped out on signing anyone. But here’s the kicker — 45 of those 79 from 2023 didn’t sign a single person in their second year! Now they’re staring at a do-or-die 2026 draft. If they can’t get at least one player on a 90-man roster in 2026, they’re out of the league practically before they got started.

Signing too many players in Year 1: One member of the 2024 agent class signed 17 players and not one made it into camp this summer (just one of them even got a tryout, which seems impossible). One signed eight players and not even one of them got a tryout, much less a UDFA contract. I get it — there’s a temptation to play the numbers game, but if you sign the wrong players, you have a monumental problem because now all those players (and their parents and coaches and girlfriends) are now calling you all summer wondering when they’re gonna get signed (and they aren’t). In my estimation, 2-3 clients is the sweet spot in Year 1 (no more than four). Basically, plan on spending money on training for all your clients. Usually, the agents who sign dozens of players aren’t training them. They’re trying to beat the system, to outsmart everyone. You can’t do that.

Signing small-schoolers: This is a big mistake for two reasons. No. 1, usually a sub-FBS player won’t have a pro day, which means you’re desperately calling around, trying to find a school that will take your player. Usually, you hit a brick wall. No. 2, and more importantly, a growing number of NFL scouts aren’t spending their time poring over FCS and lower prospects, reasoning that if they had ability, they’d take the NIL money and run to a bigger school. That’s the reality in the modern era.

We’ll talk more about the agent business, the success stories and the mistakes that are made in the Friday Wrap, as always, which comes out at 7:30 p.m. later today. Want in? It’s free. Register here.

Want to Sign a Legit NFL Draft Prospect? Here Are the Rules

14 Thursday Aug 2025

Posted by in Agents, combine prep, Getting started, NFL draft

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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.