Category Archives: ITL

Frayed nerves

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

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This time of year is absolutely crazy for the people I work with. Here’s one illustration.

I have one client who’s literally been an ITL client since before he was an agent, sometime in the mid-’00s. We’ve come to be pretty good friends, and he’s one of my biggest supporters, regularly encouraging me and pitching me on ideas (many of them good ones) regarding my services. It’s been pretty rewarding to see his rise through the business, as he had his first top-100 pick last year, and feel like I’ve played some small role in it. I know we’re friends, one of my closer friends in the business, and will be for a long time.

All that said, twice in the last 4-5 years, this friend has lashed out at me in latter December, accusing me of helping ‘the enemy.’ He’s as competitive as they come, and it hurts him when he loses, and defeat causes him to ask ‘why?’ In his zeal to answer that question, he’s looked at me. Both times, the players he expressed frustration about were players I barely knew existed. One of them, I literally couldn’t even pronounce his name. Yet my friend was positive I had given someone else (maybe even the player himself) some kind of sensitive information that influenced the young man away from my friend.

I have to admit that I usually don’t react well, and get pretty dismissive out of my own frustration. Of course, it’s not true. I would be a fool to take sides in a business as wild and crazy as sports representation. I depend on all my clients to see me as neutral; if they don’t, ITL is dead in the water.

In a similar vein, I’ve had agents swear up and down that they’ll be signing a player as soon as his season is over, only to find out days later (sometimes even hours later) that they were wrong. That makes you crazy, too.

The point is, if you’re focused on being in this business, whether it’s player evaluation/scouting or player representation, prepare for your sanity to be tested. From about Dec. 1 until you get your client signed to an NFL deal the following summer, your life will be crazy and unsettled. But even at that, there’s no high like having success in football.

 

Work the Plan

09 Tuesday Dec 2014

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Yesterday, I guess I had too much time on my hands, so I reviewed my Twitter feed and found one of those endless lists that journalists put out this time of year because they’re easy, it’s the Christmas season, and they can churn them out in no time. This one recognized the top 100 or 20 or 50 or whatever people in the football business. No surprise, my name wasn’t among them.

For a minute, this frustrated me. I never measure myself by others’ success, because usually you’re comparing apples and oranges. Inside the League doesn’t fit neatly into any category. We’re not really media; though that’s the easiest label to put on us. We’re not scouting or recruiting, though lots of people put us in that group. We’re not a sports gossip site, though that’s another way we’ve been described. We’re more of a business-to-business consulting service, which is how I describe us. It’s hard to judge our success based on the number of Twitter followers we have, because our relationships are a lot more vertical than they are horizontal. I see us as less a mountain and more as an iceberg.

So here’s the point: don’t make the same mistake I did, even for a minute, by comparing your success to others’ success. All the time, you can see people in the football world getting credit for ‘winning’ when they really aren’t. You see this in the agent business when a lesser agency signs a top prospect, well over its station. Usually, it’s because the agent has paid a boatload in training, signing bonus and/or training, and more often than not, the player fires him well before he has a chance to make his money back. You’ll see another example of this on the last weekend in April when the media ‘grades’ the draft classes of all 32 teams. Those grades are at least three years early, and based on nothing more than the hype the same media has been creating for months.

Work your plan. Talk to everyone you know about the path you want to take, then take it. Figure out what your budget is, what your goals are, and what your time frame is, and stick to it. Don’t stray when you see someone else enjoying fruits that you think you deserve. And if your intention is to be part of the next wave of football professionals and you need a little guidance, we’d love to help.

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.

Giving the People What They Want

05 Friday Dec 2014

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We focus mostly on the business of football in this space, but I don’t do enough to encourage aspiring grid professionals to find a corner of the industry to make their own. So today, I’m discussing a couple of things that happened Thursday that puzzle me.

These observations might help budding entrepreneurs. Or if you’ve got answers, and you understand what I clearly don’t, please let me know. Here we go.

  • Occasionally, my friend Darren Heitner of SportsAgentBlog.com will Tweet a brief item from one of my Rep Rumblings reports at Inside the League.  On Thursday, he Tweeted a note about Michigan WR Devin Funchess that I had on the site this week. That item is fairly typical of the type of thing we post on a daily basis this time of year, and when my cell beeped about the Tweet, I just kinda shrugged my shoulders. As I’m writing this, about 22 hours after he posted it, that one Tweet had been retweeted 66 times and Favorited 25 times. I’m at a loss on what gave that Tweet such impact. I mean, I get it: the kid’s a junior and projected as a first-rounder, but it can’t be a surprise that he’s considering leaving early from a program that’s had its struggles the last few years. Obviously, Michigan is one of the more storied programs in the nation, and plenty of Big Blue fans have had their knives out on Twitter in a misery-loves-company kind of way. But it still has me scratching my head. One way or another, this one item had an incredible amount of impact. What’s especially odd is that within the last hour, he tweeted a similar item about Mississippi St. LB Bernardrick McKinney, also a junior who could be a first-rounder if he comes out. Here’s an SEC player from a school that’s had a lot of success this season, and after the first 45 minutes, we have one RT and one favorite. To me, that’s odd.
  • I didn’t post Wednesday this week, so I pushed War Story Weds. to Thursday. My story yesterday involved the professional, fair-minded approach one of my long-time clients took in picking a prime ‘plum’ off the Hula Bowl ‘tree’ in 2007. Almost as soon as I posted it, I got a text from him and we messaged back and forth a bit. My immediate response to him was the shock I feel when a major agent that is already an ITL client contacts me about one of my blog posts here. These readers are already paying for an ITL membership to have the high-level football tools and information needed to perform in an ultra-competitive industry. I mean, if you’re reading this, my thoughts are that you’re someone who’s still learning about the business, which is why at times I discuss some pretty elementary topics. However, apparently, you’re joined in reading by some of the people who’ll be doing first-round contracts next summer. I guess the takeaway is that when you’re in a business as fast-moving and information-centric as sports representation, you better always be learning. If that means that at times you find yourself in a Football 101 classroom, so be it. I hope that’s a lesson the aspiring football professionals out there really take to heart. I know I agree, no matter the business.

War Story Thurs: Hula Frustration

04 Thursday Dec 2014

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Since I missed posting yesterday (sorry, it’s just a really, really busy time), and War Story Wednesday has become pretty popular, I decided to share a war story from my past today, even though it’s Thursday. Hopefully, today’s story illustrates not just the intense competition even off the field, but the way things can be handled when there’s controversy.

This one comes from my days running the 2008 Hula Bowl, which was then the No. 3 all-star contest. It turned out to be the last year the game was played, but at the time, it had a great name and substantial reputation. Still, it was just the No. 3 game. Then, as now, the Senior Bowl was No. 1 and the Shrine Game was No. 2. We were trying to change that, but couldn’t. For that reason, I knew going in that everyone that accepted an invite would leave immediately if they got a Senior Bowl or Shrine Game invite. But I couldn’t be bothered with that; I had a job to do and I did most of my own evaluation.

Back then, the practice of scheduling games by mid-major teams on Tuesdays and Wednesdays was still new, so unless you were looking for a game mid-week, you might not find it unless you happened to come across it while channel-surfing. That’s how I found a game featuring Eastern Michigan against another MAC opponent one night, and it’s how I ‘discovered’ DT Jason Jones. For whatever reason, Jones had not gone into his senior season as a highly touted prospect, and he was not on my radar screen. However, by the end of the game, he definitely was. From his interior line spot, he was disruptive the whole game, stacking up the run and getting consistent penetration on passing plays. He looked like the kind of kid with big ability but limited headlines that I could ‘sneak’ onto the Hula Bowl roster. And I did. As I recall, I reached out to him through Eastern Michigan’s pro liaison coach, and in short order we had his info sheet signed and returned.

Unfortunately, these agreements are not binding, so I had to sweat things out, wondering if he’d ever make it to Honolulu. Everything looked good until we got to December, at which point I got a call from Mike McCartney.

At the time, Mike was still a relatively new agent, but an up-and-comer, and he was with one of the bigger and more reputable firms in the business, Priority Sports in Chicago. We’ve always had a great relationship, and I admire the fact that his father, Bill, founded Promise Keepers, an international Christian organization devoted to making men better fathers and husbands. By the way, Bill McCartney also won a national championship as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes in 1990.

When Mike called in early December, I figured the news wouldn’t be good, and it wasn’t. He had signed Jones, and Jones would be accepting an invitation to the Senior Bowl. I would have been a fool to make the case that he should also play in the Hula Bowl, and I didn’t, but Mike was very gracious in the way he’d handled it, which I appreciated. Today, Mike and I still have a really good relationship.

Someday, maybe next Wednesday, I’ll discuss the way things are more often handled with another story.

‘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.

Encouragement

26 Friday Sep 2014

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I hate to be a sap, I really do, but I’ve been feeling encouraged about success in the football world these days. Maybe it’s a new college season and a new football season. Maybe it’s because it’s been unseasonably cooler here in West Houston over the last week or so. Or maybe it’s a couple of experiences I’ve had in the last 48 hours that put a little more wind in my sails.

  • One of them was a phone call I got Thursday from a client who’s a financial planner. He got started with ITL about two years ago, and at the time, he was a successful businessman in the Carolinas who knew nothing more than that he wanted to work with NFL players and saw a need. In other words, he was as green as grass. That first year he was with me, there were numerous conversations about the mechanics of connecting with players, what to say, what their expectation level might be, and questions of every stripe. Over time we got to be pretty friendly, but I came to hear from him less over the last year or so. Now I know it’s because he doesn’t have those questions anymore. In his two years in the business, he’s picked up four clients (a very good rate of success), and he told me that he was going to lunch with one of his clients next week along with a couple of the client’s NFL teammates. In other words, he’s now getting referrals from NFL players. That’s exciting, and it’s gratifying to know I played some small role in his success.
  • The other was Wednesday, when I spoke at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law’s Sports and Entertainment Law Society in Houston. There’s just something energizing about seeing the face of the ‘next wave’ of the business. We had a little less than 30 there. In the crowd, I saw not only eagerness and attentive faces, but also business attire; when I was in college, the closest I got was wearing a shirt that didn’t have any stains. In other words, it was great to be in the company of young people who take themselves and their professional goals seriously. They had good questions, they spoke with purpose, and they were on time. Not a bad combination for people who want to take the next step professionally in a competitive world. When I left them, I told them I’d see them at the top, and I mean it.

You really can succeed in football. Whether you’re well-established (as is my first example) or just getting started (as are the students in my second), you can do this. Have a great weekend.

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.

A league of opportunity

12 Friday Sep 2014

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If you follow the football world closely, you know the NFL isn’t the only league playing games right now. There’s the CFL, of course, but very soon, there will also be the FXFL. It’s a startup league that kicks off Oct. 8, and it’s led by Brian Woods, who’s coached at several FBS schools and also worked in the cap department for the Jets.

At Inside the League, we’ve spent a lot of time detailing the new league as it has slowly put the pieces in place for a short, six-game season with its first four teams (Boston, Brooklyn, Omaha and Florida). We even announced the teams’ head coaches today in advance of an official announcement expected on Monday. We see it as a real chance for post-college players to develop their skills and improve the odds they get a second look in the NFL without having to go to Canada and sign a two-year deal, as is mandated by all CFL rookies.

However, the opportunities don’t end on the field. One thing I harp on with people seeking to climb the football business ladder is that, one time or another, you’ll have to work for free. In fact, in most cases, you’ll have to work not only for free, but probably at some cost. The FXFL, given its skeleton staffs and general low-cost business model, gives you an excellent chance to get real-world experience if you’re a student or young professional in any of the four markets where the league will play.

How many times have I worked for free? My gosh, it’s countless. I’ve driven all over Texas to cover a football clinic or work a combine, all on my own dime; spent $300-plus (a lot for me at the time) on a phone bill generated by my (volunteer) work on my first-ever all-star game (plus burned a week of vacation to help run the game); gotten stiffed on speaking engagements; and flown to New Orleans to interview for a job that provided only a stipend, had I gotten it (I didn’t). These are but a few instances, and I’m sure if I had more time I could fill this blog post with them.

But here’s the point: all of these experiences gave me currency with people. They helped me speak with some level on expertise on some pretty nuanced football-related subjects. They gave me the mentors I’ve used to help me advance in the business and build my service. There’s no way I could ever have done it if not for these sometimes-awkward times in my professional life.

If you’re serious about working in football, the opportunities are there with the FXFL. Reach out to the teams on Twitter or email the FXFL (it’s easy to find an email address if you’re aggressive searching on Google). The opportunity presented by this new league is one you won’t often find. I encourage you to go for it.

 

Parental guidance

04 Thursday Sep 2014

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This morning, I read an email from the parent of a player who was part of the 2013 draft class. This player was an average draft prospect; he participated in an all-star game, but not a top-rated game such as the Senior Bowl or Shrine Game. He played at a big-name, high-gloss, nationally ranked program, but wasn’t a four-year starter and wasn’t highly decorated. Despite this solid-but-not-glowing resume, his parent was decrying the NFL for snubbing him and trashed the FXFL, the upstart league that kicks off this fall and hopes to become a developmental league for the NFL.

This afternoon, I was talking to an agent who’s also a friend; he’s been an ITL client for years. We were discussing a member of the 2014 draft class who had beaten the odds and signed with a major agency despite meager long-term NFL prospects. My friend said his agency had taken a run at the player, but pulled off early because his parents saw him as The Second Coming, and had been dismissive toward most agents during recruiting in his senior year. He wound up going late in this spring’s draft.

On Wednesday, I read an email from an agent who’s a longtime client. He signed a player as part of the ’14 draft class from a small-time FBS school with a mediocre record during his career. This player only started one season and recorded minimal stats his senior year, but he tested out of sight at his school’s pro day, and on the strength of his 40 time, landed a camp invite this summer before getting cut last week. This agent, who’s very conscientious, led off his email with the statement, “If I don’t get him a workout, his father will blame me for the rest of his life.”

So here’s the common thread to these three stories, which aren’t uncommon this time of year: unrealistic parents. If you’re the parent of a college athlete who entertains dreams of an NFL career, please read and re-read the following paragraphs.

The NFL is not a league for good players. It’s a league for great players. The league also offers no reward for starting four years in college; or for being a scholarship player at a big-name school; or because a player’s parent is an ex-NFL great.

If your son is ‘on the street’ right now, i.e., not on the 53-man roster OR the (newly expanded this year) practice squad, it’s because he’s not good enough, and he has more work to do. Don’t take this personally, but also, don’t dismiss this. If he’s truly interested in playing in the NFL, he needs to find a place where he can get better. Now.

I know that, for parents, it’s very frustrating to see a son miss out on opportunities, given that he’s always enjoyed success on the gridiron. However, if you’re truly interested in helping him get to the NFL, swallow your pride and take a good look around, and acknowledge that he’s got a long uphill battle if he’s not in the league. His failure to make it is not due to his agent, or a coach, or a league that’s unresponsive. It’s simply because he’s not good enough (yet). Do what you can to help him improve his game. Don’t blame someone else.