Category Archives: Getting started

Ask The Scouts: 12 Questions for the NFL Scouting Director Zooms

03 Friday Dec 2021

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Next week, as you might have seen, we will host three nights of NFL scouting directors discussing their hiring policies and philosophies as it relates to scouting interns and assistants. In other words, this will be How to Get a Job in NFL Scouting 101 with not one, not two, but three (!!!) experts. I’ve spoken on this topic before, but obviously, that’s not nearly the same as bringing in the men who actually do the hiring to talk about how they fill open positions.

You can register by becoming a #NextWave ITL subscriber (a discounted $75 student rate for aspiring NFL evaluators) here. Got questions? Email me at nstratton at insidetheleague dot com. Once you get registered, we’ll send you all the relevant links, etc. We’ll reveal the names of our three directors and their teams, times of the Zoom sessions, and provide Zoom links on Monday.

So what are the questions they will address? I’ve given them a lot of latitude on how they want to approach these sessions, but these would be some of the questions that I would expect will be answered.

  • When is the best time to submit a resume?
  • How do I know about openings?
  • How do I submit my resume?
  • How important is it to have a developed eye for NFL talent? Will I be evaluated on this?
  • How long are your internships? How long do scouting assistants typically work for your team?
  • Do you pay scouting interns? If so, how much?
  • What if I haven’t worked for a school’s personnel department?
  • Is a math/science/finance-based degree better than a sport management degree?
  • Should I include ALL my work experience, or just football-related experience, on my resume?
  • Do you hire every year?
  • What do your interns and scouting assistants typically do?
  • Where have most of them come from?

If you follow our Scouting Changes Grid, you already have an idea of who got hired this cycle, and if you study our Know Your Scouts series, you already know all about the people who are getting, and keeping, jobs in NFL scouting these days. If you haven’t, well, that’s one more reason to become a #NextWave subscriber.

As an added bonus, USFL CEO Brian Woods will join us on Zoom Wednesday, as well. Though his focus will be on addressing agents’ questions about roster population, etc., he might have a minute to talk about how the league will fill internship roles. If you read this blog regularly, you know how strongly I feel about building your network and having relevant work experience, and leagues like the USFL (and, soon, the XFL) offer golden opportunities for that. And these days, you don’t even have to live in a certain place to sharpen your skill set and be a key part of an organization.

We’ll be talking more about next week’s sessions in today’s Friday Wrap, which comes out at 7:30 p.m. ET. If you haven’t already, register for it here.

’21 Agent Class Wellness Check: Five Things You Should Know by Thanksgiving

25 Thursday Nov 2021

Posted by in Agents, Getting started

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Having worked with members of the ’21 agent class for the past several months, I hear their concerns and their questions every day. With the sub-FBS seasons over for teams not in the playoffs, and nearly over for about half of FBS teams, there are big decisions that are starting to be made.

Bottom line, there are certain things you need to know by Thanksgiving Day if you’re a certified contract advisor. Here’s what I came up with.

Know who you hope to sign: If you’re a newly certified agent, you are getting contacted daily by two groups. They are, people who hope to be agents some day and want you to hire them as interns, and players from previous draft classes hoping you’ll sign and train them to pursue their long shot NFL dreams. Well, we’re just getting started. As more and more players’ seasons end, they will start calling, too. I hope you’re recruiting, and not just waiting for something to float in over the transom. Sometimes those signings work out, but by and large, someone recruiting you is not being considered by NFL scouts.

Know who you can’t sign: Every year, there are agents who come into the business solely because a young man, or members of his family, promised that new agent that the player would sign with him or her upon certification by the NFLPA. For these people, I like to tell ‘the story of the high school girlfriend.’ I’m 52. So are Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Zeta-Jones, so all of them were in high school when I was. Now, let’s say I went to high school with one of them, and maybe I was even lucky enough to date one of them (I know, in my dreams, but let me tell the story). We might have expressed our love for each other, and maybe even made long-term plans, discussed kids, etc. Well, once those girls left Hometown U.S.A. and met the Brad Pitts, George Clooneys and Dwayne Johnsons of the world, suddenly, they don’t remember me anymore. That happens every year to new agents once the players they coached in Pop Warner or knew from the old neighborhood start to get recruited by the big firms. If this describes you, you better have a Plan B.

Know who the real prospects are: For most new agents without a network of NFL scouting contacts, figuring out which players have NFL talent takes real guesswork. Most aspiring NFL players have a well-rehearsed story explaining why they have been overlooked by draft pundits and scouts alike, and they can be pretty convincing. Have I mentioned that former NFL executive Blake Beddingfield writes scouting reports on any college player at any level for just $100+tax? We can turn a report in 2-3 days, most times sooner. Contact us for details.

Know about what you can spend: I would estimate that for every 100 members of a draft class signed to a 90-man roster post-draft (either drafted or signed as a UDFA), one makes it through the draft process costing his agent $1,000 or less. If about 600 rookies enter the league as draft picks or UDFAs, you’re talking about 5-7 players. For all the others, you’re looking at $5,000-$10,000 per player (again, we’re talking about actual prospects, not backup punters from NAIA schools). We discussed this extensively on our Zoom session last week. If you’re a new agent, I hope you caught it. Greg Linton (HOF Player Representatives) and Alex Campbell (Ajax Sports Agency) were magnificent.

Know, in minute detail, the all-star landscape: There are eight all-star games this draft cycle, more than any since ITL started in 2002. We had seven of the games’ directors on our Zoom last week, and they explained dates, schedules, costs (where applicable), invitation progress, roster sizes and scarcities, how to contact them and plenty of other details. I can’t describe what kind of opportunity these games are, especially if your client comes from a sub-FBS school or was only a one-year starter.

Whether or not you’re part of the football business community, and whether or not you’re part of the ITL family, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family and friends. One of God’s greatest gifts is our loved ones. Have a blessed day, and don’t forget to sign up for our Friday Wrap if you haven’t already. 

 

ITL Zoom Week: Three Sessions, Three Speakers, Plenty of Fire

19 Friday Nov 2021

Posted by in Agents, Getting started, NIL

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I think my genius — and I use that term very loosely — is that I’ve been able to befriend people who are way smarter than I am. From there, I’ve been able to talk some of them into joining me on Zoom to share their wisdom.

This week was one of those times when we threw the kitchen sink at the ITL family, hosting three Zoom sessions (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). I can’t possible relate how powerful my guests were, so I’m going to pass along their thoughts in their own words today, then give my thoughts afterwards. Here goes.

Greg “Tripp” Linton of HOF Player Representatives on the biggest problem facing new agents (Tuesday): “The one thing that I wish I would have known when I first started (is) . . . the worst part about being an agent is, you don’t know what you don’t know. That is the worst part about being a new agent.”

My thoughts: I could almost have run Tripp’s entire commentary on the agent industry, which is why I brought him on to talk about agent expenses. As always, he was riveting, forceful and transparent as always. I try to be adamant about how quickly costs can add up in this business, but a lot of people don’t want to hear it. OK. Well, if you’re a new agent, at least admit that there are things you don’t know. If you don’t want to spend $29.95/mo with me, you better befriend people like Tripp who are willing to spend lots of time with you and tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it.

Trevor Swenson of Dynamic Talent, on building an NIL presence (Wednesday): “So this is a store I built for one of my buddies who wanted to start his own personal training site. . . Yes, his name really is ‘Popcorn.’ . . . You got merchandise built right in there. . . . This site took me about four hours to build. So he went profitable, I think, the second day. Right now he’s averaging about $700 a day in sales, which is 100% profit because it’s training programs. So it’s super easy to do once you get it up and running, but you just have to market and brand it after it’s up there. . . I built his YouTube channel, and then he just stopped sending me videos — which is fine, he didn’t have to — but I will give you this as an example. I built his YouTube channel and I got him up to 305 subscribers in the first week. . . we got him almost 100,000 views in about a year. . . So we posted just videos of him doing the actual movements and most of these views came in the first 48 hours. So we got like 10,000 views of him doing a triceps pushdown.”

My thoughts: I realize that this passage requires a bit of context, but I think you can figure out what Trevor was saying here. I mean, have you ever heard of Popcorn Savage? Neither have I, but who cares?! He got 10,000 views in 48 hours of him doing a triceps pushdown, the least complicated move in the entire gym! I mean, I wouldn’t watch Arnold Schwarzenegger do a triceps pushdown, but somehow, Trevor got 10,000 people to watch a guy they probably hadn’t heard of do it. My YouTube page has probably been around for 10 years, and I don’t think I have 10,000 views on all my content put together. This is Trevor’s genius. He gave a two-hour presentation Wednesday, and my head is still swimming. I think everyone on that Zoom is the same way.

Damond Talbot, Executive Director of the Hula Bowl, on his philosophy on roster-building: (Thursday, as part of our Zoom with seven all-star game directors): “We all do this for one purpose and one purpose only, and that’s for the kids. I don’t care if my kids gets sniped from me by one of these guys, as long as they get an opportunity to play. I scout football, so I’ll find somebody else. It might not be the best player, but dammit, I’m gonna find somebody who checks some boxes. I’m confident in what I do. I’m not cocky, but I’m definitely confident that I can find a replacement, no matter what. . . and if you need any damn help, if you need a sleeper last minute, man, let me know. If I have one, I’ll definitely shoot it your way. Whatever you guys need.”

My thoughts: This is classic Damond, who always goes beyond the call of duty. I know when I ran the Hula Bowl, I was not nearly so magnanimous. I thought Damond earned a lot of respect and goodwill with his comments. I heard plenty of praise from agents afterward.

If you were part of this week’s Zoom sessions, as a speaker or as a participant, I’m deeply appreciative. It’s been a great week, and we’ll talk about it even more in today’s Friday Wrap. Make sure to register for it if you haven’t already.

Looming Zooms: Our November Slate

28 Thursday Oct 2021

Posted by in Agents, Getting started, NIL, Scouts

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November arrives Monday. If you’re part of the football business, that’s the month when things start getting serious. Whether you’re recruiting, scouting, or inviting players (to all-star games), the end of the year means you’re getting a lot closer to making real commitments.

With that in mind, we’re stepping up our Zoom schedule. We’ll be trying several new sessions aimed at bringing respected and knowledgeable professionals to the people who need information the most. Here’s what we have.

  • We’re pretty excited about our upcoming three-session NIL class, which will be hosted by Trevor Swenson of Sacramento-based Dynamic Talent. While most people in the industry are pro-NIL, just as many are scratching their heads and wondering how to capitalize on it. I think NIL rules could change the way football biz professionals approach their work; it’s possible we see a dip in NFL agent signups as would-be player reps pass up the $5K exam cost and problematic training finances to take a shot at making money without nearly the sacrifices. Trevor is an NIL wiz, with decades of experience promoting entertainers and athletes. Though the barriers to entry for NIL success are much lower, you still have to know what you’re doing, and Trevor knows. Cost is $150 plus tax. Register here.
  • Speaking of training costs, our next New Agent Orientation will discuss budgeting for the pre-draft process. We get a lot of questions about what kind of player requires training — do priority free agents expect their combine prep to be covered? — as well as how to deal with sharing these costs. There are many ways, and if you’re not cognizant of them, you will quickly spend your way out of the game. We will have guests to discuss the pitfalls of agent costs, and whether or not you’re eager to hear the facts of life re: finances, you need to hear this. The date for this is TBA, but we’re targeting the second week of November. We tackled recruiting and registrations in September and the entire all-star landscape this month. To join us, you need to have passed this summer’s NFL agent exam and be part of the ITL family.
  • We may actually do two sessions for new agents. The executive directors of several all-star games have expressed an interest in talking to the new agent class, and we’re happy to oblige. We’re working on a Zoom that will feature Damond Talbot (Hula Bowl), Jose Jefferson (CGS), Michael Quartey (Tropical Bowl) and Dane Vandernat (NFLPA Bowl). It will be a way to introduce these gentlemen to new agents. Once again, if you’re newly certified and an ITL subscriber, you’re in.
  • We’re also working on a free session for aspiring NFL scouts among our membership. We’ll bring in a former NFL evaluator to discuss the finer points of grading players. This one is aimed at our younger clientele who are out there looking for morsels on how to scout, but all members of the ITL family are welcome.
  • One last opportunity: former Titans executive Blake Beddingfield will join us, likely in the second week of November, with his annual list of 50 sleepers. These are players that newer agents can target who aren’t in the limelight, but who are legitimate late-round prospects. Cost is $35 plus tax. More details, including date, to come.

it’s going to be a busy month. Stay tuned to the Friday Wrap (register here) for details on when our Zooms will take place. Got ideas for other Zooms? Let us know here. DMs always open.

Ask the Agent: Highlights of Our Pro Development Session with Aston Wilson

17 Thursday Jun 2021

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Wednesday night, we had our third pro development session for the ’21 NFL agent class. This time, we invited Miami-based Aston Wilson of Agency 1 Sports Group. Aston took an hour and answered 10 questions I posed to him (as well as a handful that the participants asked). 

Having spent almost a decade as an independent contract advisor, working his way up from nothing, Aston was awesome, as I knew he would be. Here are a few highlights:

On the value of knowing scouts vs. knowing the game yourself: “You know, (as a former college football player), I can watch film with my clients and know what they’re talking about. I can scout players myself and be confident in knowing what I see, even if scouts don’t agree with me. . . I can be confident in my assessment of a player and I can say, ‘you know what? This guy can play regardless of, you know, if NFL Draft Scout has him as a PFA’ . . . What I know is, this is what plays in the NFL because I watch it, I understand it. But I . . . think you can learn that just from being a student of the game. I don’t think you need to be a former player in order to have that experience.”

On the value of independence in your ‘day job:’ “I think having a job still may hold you back as an agent if you’re not the master of your own schedule. I think the benefit for me being an attorney, or having my own business, is that I can get up and leave whenever I want. I don’t have to be tied to a city, an area, or anything that takes up my time. That’s my decision. I know some people are trying to start off and you have a 9-to-5. Obviously, you’re going to be locked into that 9-to-5 or whatever. Even if you have a boss, you don’t have the same freedom as not having a boss of being able to close the book.”

At the same time, agent work isn’t going to take up 100 percent of your time, all the time: “I think the demand on your time is a myth in the agent world . . . A lot of people (say they’re) grinding all the time, doing all this work, and yeah, you know, it’s time-consuming, but if you don’t have 5-10 active clients and then 2-3 more guys on the street (unsigned), you’re not consumed with agent life the entire time.”

On recruiting as a new agent with no clients: “It’s figuring out how to just survive through the gauntlet, you know? And . . . you find the loyal guy, like my first client that got drafted . . . (who said), ‘look, I like what he’s talking about. I’m going to rock with (him).’ And we’ve been through so much together. He’s one of my good friends, we talk all the time. It’s just that there’s no magic to it.”

Check out Aston at his law firm’s website if you have further questions about how he’s experienced success in the industry. Got more questions about the industry? Make sure to sign up for our Friday Wrap. We think you’ll find it helpful. 

WSW: The Fight

18 Wednesday Nov 2015

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Today, someone in my Facebook feed posted this article. Before you read it, warning: it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s from a sports writer who’s probably in his 50s and struggling to find work. It got me thinking about working in football, and working, in general. Especially in today’s work culture. I’ve never really told the story of how I got to be a football consultant, and I guess today’s as good as any.

We’ll start today’s story mid-stream. It was March 24, 2009. I had come back to the Houston Chronicle, working a menial administrative job after the Hula Bowl collapsed beneath my feet in mid-January of ’08. For weeks, we’d been hearing that layoffs were coming, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know I’d be part of that wave. I reported for work at the regular time, did my routine morning duties, and the phone rang, requesting that I go up and talk to Human Resources.

About 15 minutes later, I was riding down the elevator back to the newsroom with about four of my former colleagues who’d gotten the same news.

I’ll never forget that elevator ride. Grown men were crying. Red-rimmed eyes stared blankly into space. Houston is a one-newspaper town, and the people on that elevator knew they’d have to start over, some of them post-50. But because I’m a little weird, I was angry, not sad, and maybe even a little defiant.

(I should mention that I always preferred playing on the road to playing at home, and that boos and catcalls always strengthened me. During my playing days, there’s nothing I enjoyed more than beating a good team in front of its fans. It’s energizing. Yes, I’m a bit of a contrarian. But I digress.)

The point is that I had launched my own consulting service in ’02, and I knew I was getting better at it, finding my niche and identifying a market. Today, five-and-a-half years later, I can hardly believe it took getting laid off for me to permanently cast my lot with Inside the League.

The writer of the piece I linked to earlier is facing some things I didn’t have to face. His kids were a lot older when he got laid off, and so was he. He also had to start a blog from scratch, whereas I had already been figuring things out for seven years when I got the axe. He’s also blogging for free and hoping he can eventually develop ad sales, whereas my audience pays a monthly fee, along with a la carte prices for other features, for my assistance and information.

I should also mention that the love of a 40-hour week in sports and a nice salary for same is not specific to sportswriters. Virtually every NFL scout who gets laid off spends years coming to grips with the fact he was paid for his opinion, no matter how well-founded, and frankly, it’s not expensive to obtain opinions. We’ll see a revolution in NFL scouting in the next decade, maybe sooner. The era of the scout who gets upwards of $80K to travel the roads in the fall and come back with detailed takes on players is already nearing its end.

Anyway, my point is this, and it’s one I’ve made in this space several times. If you want to work in sports in general, or football in particular, it’s up to you to find a niche, a market, a place where no one else is. And there will be no guarantees. If you only want to be a scout, or only want to be a writer, or only want to be an agent, it’s not going to be easy, because those are all well-traveled roads. If you really want to be part of the football world, you’re going to have to realize that the work never ends; that you have to get good at some things you may not like; and that there are no guarantees. And you might have to have a footprint in several worlds, as I do. I touch on all three of the above professions in the work I do.

I applaud the writer of the above article for starting a blog, and I hope it continues. If he can truly develop an audience that is unlike the others, and he can figure out how to leverage that properly, he will find success. But he’s like anyone else out there, including me. It won’t be easy. It will be incredibly rewarding if he can find traction, but it definitely won’t be easy.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that cracking the football business will be easy, either. You can do it, but it will take everything you have. It has for me, but it’s been a fair trade.

The Melting Ice Cube

08 Monday Dec 2014

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Last night, I had someone register for Inside the League, but who stopped short of completing the pay page and subscribing. I call these people ‘tire-kickers.’ They aren’t sure if they want to risk $29.95 to find out if ITL can help them. Fair enough. That’s one reason I started Succeed in Football.

By his name, I think he was a member of the 2014 draft class, though I’m not sure it’s the same person. We get once-highly touted players from previous draft classes that ‘tire-kick’ all the time, wondering if we can find them another shot at glory. People often confuse Inside the League with an agency, and when they find out we aren’t an agency, they ask us to give them referrals to an agency. This is one of the saddest parts of the football business, because there’s nothing we can do to help.

I’ve heard players from former draft classes described as melting ice cubes, and it’s a pretty apt description. If a player goes undrafted, that’s bad, but he still might sign an undrafted free agent deal. If he goes undrafted and unsigned, that’s bad, too, but maybe he can at least hang on if he gets a CFL deal, or at least an AFL deal. However, if he gets to June with no deal and no offers, the summer sun really starts to get hot.

I don’t want to turn this into another cliched ‘stay in school’ story, and no one needs to tell you that getting your degree is the most important thing you can do during your college days. Instead, I discuss this as a reminder that this is a business, and decisions are made for coldly logical reasons.

Here’s another illustration. I got an email from a new agent today, and he mentioned that he was overwhelmed this year with working two jobs. I presume he meant working his ‘day job’ and pressing ahead with his sports representation dream. Good for him. I’m glad he wasn’t foolish enough to put all his eggs in the ‘agent’ basket.

Very often, I’ve spoken to people who think being an agent can be an instant career choice for them, an escape from a boring life as a corporate lawyer or a mid-level banker or even a bartender. But it’s really important to understand that this pursuit — almost any pursuit, really — will take time, and because it takes time, it will take money to keep your head above water in the interim.

I remember when I first launched ITL, I considered leaving my ‘day job’ as a low-level copy editor at a major southern newspaper. I thought of my desire for security as an act of cowardice or a failure to truly believe in myself. I’m so glad today that I didn’t cast security to the wind. It took me a lot of tries to figure what would work for ITL and what wouldn’t, how to work smarter and not always just work harder.

If you’re pursuing a place in the world of football, make sure you realize two things. One, a little early success doesn’t guarantee you anything, and you can run out of resources (and time) quickly if you’re not careful. Two, it doesn’t make you a coward if you hedge your bets professionally. After all, it’s not that you don’t believe you’ll be successful; it just means you’re willing to accept that you might not be instantly successful.

Opening doors

03 Friday Oct 2014

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One of the reasons I always encourage people to give the football business a try is because when you make a strong push to do something against the odds, you usually wind up opening doors that would have never otherwise been opened.

Just today, I was talking to a client who’s still new to sports representation, having gotten certified the summer of 2013. While discussing strategies for recruiting this fall, he mentioned that he’d developed relationships that moved him into boxing representation. In that capacity, he manages a handful of pugilists, two men and a woman, all of them with five or fewer pro fights so far, all undefeated. He said that representing boxers involves finding fights as well as sponsors who will put their logo on the boxer’s shorts or signage in the venue.  He indicated that it was already a money-making venture with little start-up capital or heavy investment involved.

This is just one of several collateral professions you might pick up as a result of your work in football. Here are a few others:

  • Mixed martial arts: It’s not always ex-players who branch out into other combat sports like MMA. Sometimes, a client’s brother is involved in the sport and doesn’t have reliable representation. I have some agents who’ve been certified for years who are tempted to leave their NFL work behind because their MMA practice is emerging so steadily.
  • Wrestling: Believe it or not, I spoke to an agent who got certified two years ago who got into the NFL ring only to identify big, angry, physical types that could be molded into wrestlers. Here’s the best part: his business model actually attracted the interest of World Wrestling Entertainment. He invited me to meet with representatives from the WWE at last year’s combine but it fell through at the last minute. I’m still hoping to meet with them, for no other reason than pure curiosity. Also because I gave thought once to going to ‘bad guy school’ to learn how to be a wrestler in my younger days.
  • Sports law: OK, I guess this is the obvious one, but it still bears mention. Two of my longtime friends, Darren Heitner of Heitner Legal (and sportsagentblog.com) and Adam Kenner of Wolfe Law, both based in Miami, started off in representation. Actually, Adam never got certified, but he was a very close advisor/friend/assistant to David Canter of Davie, Fla.-based DEC Management. I’ve relied on both of them for legal advice and as a sounding board from time to time, and I’ve referred them both to my clients facing legal issues. Adam, especially, had my back when one of my reports drew the attention of a high-visibility rapper (Hint: I’ve got 99 problems, but that’s no longer one of them). They’re both excellent, partly because they’ve seen the business up close.

As you know by now, I’m a strong advocate of trying this business out, really going for it and pursuing your dream. One reason I’m so adamant is that even if you shoot for the stars, you might only hit the moon, and what’s so wrong with that?

 

‘Getting’ it

02 Thursday Oct 2014

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I remember early in the ’00s, probably around 2003 or 2004, my parents were over for dinner, and I was most likely lamenting something about the challenges of Inside the League in its early stages. It was just in its second year and I was still trying to find an audience, and maybe I was coming across as whiny. It was at that point that my dad asked me, ‘why are you still doing it?’

I wasn’t really offended by his question. My parents have always been ultra-supportive of me; I enjoy a relationship with them that is closer than most anyone I know, and it’s truly one of God’s blessings. My dad just couldn’t understand why I would pour so much effort into something that took away from my time with my wife (we didn’t have our sons yet), especially when I already had a job. Inside the League was spending my time and money. What was the point?

Today, Dad sees ‘the point,’ of course, and is excited for the (limited) success I’ve achieved. He just didn’t have the vision for where I wanted to go with ITL at the time, and who could blame him for that? At the time, pretty much all he knew about ITL was that I had asked him to go to Washington, D.C., with me to meet with the NFLPA, but that we had been snubbed (a story for a different day); that I had had to significantly reduce my initial price point; that it was taxing to juggle a ‘day job’ and a ‘night job;’ and that what I was doing was very different from what everyone else was doing. For what it’s worth, he wasn’t the only one who had doubts.

So here’s the point. I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but you’re going to have to be true to yourself.

I often use this space to encourage people to take the less traveled path — to look for a place in the market that you can satisfy that others don’t see. For example, my friend Ari Nissim, a former cap guy with the Jets, sees analytics as a great untapped market in football. I have another friend and client, Michael Dean, who specializes in concierge services for professional athletes. There’s Daniel Jeremiah, an ex-scout who had so much success on Twitter after getting dumped by the Browns that he left scouting altogether to become part of NFL.com. There are others out there that I haven’t even thought of.

It’s worked well for me, but it wasn’t a direct path. I had to spend a while searching and figuring out exactly where the need was. Along the way, others were questioning me, but hey, I was questioning myself, so who can blame you?

If you follow your passion and wade into this business, there are people who will ridicule you, but to me, they’re kind of easy to deal with. You just ignore them, or respond indignantly, or whatever. The harder thing is when  someone you know and love questions your path. That’s when you have to understand that not everyone’s going to get you. Don’t apologize for that. That may be what makes your business, your idea, your market, special. There’s value in that.

Guest speaker

23 Tuesday Sep 2014

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So tomorrow I’m honored to be speaking to members of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society at Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University from noon to 1 p.m. It’s going to be fun; it’s always nice to be among young, eager folks looking to get their foot in the door and build a profile in an exciting industry. I haven’t actually put together the nuts and bolts of what I’m going to tell them yet — I’ll be speaking about making a career in football — but here are the central themes whenever I speak to a similar group.

1. Think long and hard about whether or not you want to do this or not. The odds are long that you’ll succeed, and it may take years for you to see any real gratification from things. I remember during the first six or seven years of Inside the League I contemplated whether or not I’d made a mistake, and didn’t know if it was a service that really had a market, had legs. Finally there came light at the end of the tunnel, but it was a long time arriving. It took real stamina and lots of trial and error.

2. Understand that the career you set out for might not be the one you wind up with. When I launched ITL, I envisioned a service that was equal parts fan site and business site. I actually did mock drafts, rankings and the like, just like all the other websites, but didn’t realize that trying to do what others did was the surest path to failure. Maybe if I had really doubled down on that path I would have found success, but I’m convinced that what makes me different is what makes me successful(ish). I had to be willing to dump my old ideas and strike out in a different direction to really get traction. Good thing my wife offers good advice, and good thing I’m willing to listen to it.

3. Find a mentor, find competition, but don’t necessarily grade yourself strictly by others. Look, finding someone who will help you, who will open doors for you, who will share your vision and will encourage you when you need it is critical. It’s also good to find someone like you who’s having success so you can gauge your progress. However, realize that you are not a carbon copy of anyone else, and your success may come in spurts that don’t exactly mirror the success of others. Realize that if you’re truly dedicated to this business, there will be stops and starts. You have to be in it for the long haul.

So, these are some of the themes I’ll be emphasizing tomorrow. I see them as a common denominator for success in this corner of the world. Got other ideas? Let me know in the comments section. And if you’re in the neighborhood tomorrow, I hope to see you at TSU.