For about the last 10 years, we’ve been working with first-year agents, trying to help them avoid the usual rookie mistakes that so often take down NFLPA-certified contract advisors before they’ve really begun their new ventures. We’re entering Year 3 of moving from daily emails to monthly Zoom sessions, and the response has been great from our clients.

Zoom sessions allow us to bring in special guests like former scouts, active agents, trainers and other experts. In fact, for the last two years, we’ve brought in the directors of all the major all-star games to introduce themselves to our clients and give them guidance on getting a player invited.

At any rate, it’s that time again for us to kick things off, and Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET, our guest will be David Gregory of Bullrush Sports. David got certified last summer, but didn’t spend his first year certified “learning” and sitting on the sidelines. He dove right in, and for his efforts, he was the only independent rookie agent to have a player drafted last year (Northern Michigan OT Jake Witt, who was selected in the seventh round by the Colts). It’s a monumental task just getting a player signed as an undrafted free agent in Year 1. To get a player drafted is off the charts.

Anyway, we’ll go about an hour, and these are the questions I’ll be asking him. 

• Why did you choose to become an agent?
• What is your background? Did it give you any advantages?
• How did you decide on a budget for Year 1? What was your budget?
• How many players did you sign? Why did you sign them?
• How did you first identify Jake as a player to recruit? How did you then initiate contact?
• Did you give any consideration to sending Jake to the XFL?
• What was the lowest point for you and Jake after you signed?
• When did you know there was real interest in Jake? Going into draft weekend, did you expect him to be drafted?
• What was draft day like?
• How has Jake’s selection by the Colts affected your Year 2 plans?

If you’re entering Year 1 as a contract advisor, I hope you’ll join us. There’s no cost, but you have to be an ITL client ($29.95/month, cancel at any time).  Your first year as an agent is incredibly tough, and getting to hear from the horse’s mouth how others enjoyed success is invaluable. 

We’ll send out the Zoom link to all our rookie subscribers Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before we get started. It’s going to be a good time, very informal, with plenty of time to get questions from the attendees in addition to the ones I ask. I really want this to be a win for everyone involved, and remember, we’re just getting started. We’ll have them monthly (sometimes twice monthly) for the rest of the year. Hope to see you Tuesday.

The big day for everyone taking the NFLPA Exam this summer is Monday. Pretty crazy that, after all this buildup, it’s just around the corner. So many people have been preparing since early this year (and some much longer), and it all comes to a hopefully happy ending in three days.

Obviously, we try hard to make sure everyone we work with gets good news in October, when results come out. However, predicting success is difficult. Or is it? As a way of predicting which of our clients will have success, we decided to look at last year’s buying patterns among our clients who passed the exam. Here’s what we found:

• Seventy percent purchased the ITL Study Guide. That’s no surprise. We see it as the best exam prep resource on the market. “I actually feel better after reading the study guide about literally 20 times,” said one especially diligent student for this year’s exam. “There is no way I would even have a chance on this test without the study guide . . . .” 
• Of those who purchased the guide, 63 percent had it before the end of April, while 72 percent had it before the end of May. It’s never too late to buy it, but the earlier, the better, generally.
• Not everyone bought a study guide, but those who didn’t mostly purchased at least one of our two practice exams. Only 14 percent of our class passed on the study guide and practice exams, sticking only to our videos. You must buy Exam 1 first, which you can do here. 
• Our practice exams are a big part of our prep services, as well. About two-thirds (64 percent) of our clients bought at least the first practice exam. Frankly, that’s surprisingly low. Our exam questions are written in the style of the actual exam, and knowing what the test looks like is crucial if you want to pass.
• Just under half (45 percent) of our clients last year bought the second exam. Given that the second exam is only half the price of the first exam, that’s an unnecessary risk, in my opinion. 
• Sixty percent of those who bought the study guide took no chances as they also bought both practice exams. 
• In just our first year offering monthly video sessions teaching different facets of the CBA, 25 percent of our clients bought at least one of our six videos. 
• Only 16 percent attended our final, two-hour Zoom review session.

So here are our takeaways.

• Get the study guide, and get it as soon as you can.
• Buy at least Practice Exam 1. 
• If you’re more of a visual learner, check out our six videos (buy them here), though they may serve best as a backup plan.
• If you feel confident about what you’ve learned, take the last days before the exam to “sweep up” and collect your thoughts.

If you’re taking our exam, good luck! We hope you pass, especially if you worked with us. For more tips and info on the exam, check out our Friday Wrap. You can register for it here.

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.