One of the best things about working with people in the game is that you get to ask them questions that demystify one of the most intriguing jobs in the game of football, at least in my opinion. When you ask about things that go a lot deeper than the superficial questions normally asked by members of the sports media, you can get some interesting answers.

This week, with the scouting carousel slowing down and scouts mostly getting back into their normal routine and either returning from the BLESTO meetings or readying to go to National Football Scouting’s meetings next week, we asked several scouts this question:

Do you think it’s harder (more schools to cover, entitled players, troublesome agents, greater media involvement) or easier (digital age, easier communications, better medical data, pro days more efficient) to be a scout than it was 10 years ago?

About a dozen scouts, some on the area level and some higher-ups, responded. We’ve included the respondents of the ‘scouting is easier today’ opinion in today’s post. They’re below.

• “I wouldn’t say it is easier or harder, but it is different. Fans are more knowledgeable about the process and media coverage is more intense, but instant access to video, social media, and more advanced draft studies are among the changes for the better.”
• “Easier mostly due to video – VHS tapes, then DVDs, now all digital. We’d have to wait for tapes or DVDs from NFL video, then team video, always late.  Now we can access any game the next week, all on a (Microsoft) Surface. Also, background info on Internet is easier.”
• “Digital age made it easy to watch the game tape and write reports, but you still have to watch the tape and write the reports to have a great draft!”
• “Tough to say, but I would (say) it was harder travel-wise 10 years ago because I’m sure there was less communication, marginal GPS services and specified roles in colleges.”
• “Easier because the Internet allows you to get background info or stats instantly.  That can also be a negative if you have lazy scouts. Fifteen years ago, a scout would actually have to make a school visit to watch film. Now you get it on your iPad or computer immediately.”

Equally interesting, if you’re like me (and if you read this, you probably are), were the responses of those who said it’s harder now than it used to be. We’ve included those responses in our weekly email newsletter, the Friday Wrap.

If you don’t already receive it, join the 4,000 scouts, agents, financial advisors, trainers, coaches, parents of players, active NFL players, draft prospects, former players and others across the football business who do. It comes out late afternoon/early evening every Friday. It’s free, and I promise, you won’t be sorry. Click here to register.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, and don’t forget why we celebrate it.

Today was an interesting day. The Super Bowl came to my city this year, and that’s special for me as the ‘big game’ has never been part of my January/February schedule. I spent Thursday downtown getting a look at the landscape, just trying to get a better handle on what the festivities surrounding the game look like. Here are a few observations.

• I watched the people who buy and flip Super Bowl tickets for several hours today. Quite a high-wire act. This morning, ticket prices were in free-fall, and vendors were looking for a soft landing spot for anything they had in their inventory. By this afternoon/evening, ticket were revving up again as many of the high-end ticket services were panicked and afraid the tickets they had already committed to filling might not be there. As I understand it, the league could release a huge block of tickets at any time that could once again drop prices. Hold your tickets too long, you could lose thousands of dollars. Hold them even longer, and maybe the prices rebound and you make thousands.
• By the way, this week players from selected teams (different teams deliver their tickets in different ways) could pick up their tickets at a downtown hotel. Ticket people know this, and about 20 of them hung around outside the hotel. Pretty much, whenever an athletic-looking man in his 20s came anywhere near the hotel, he was mobbed by people wearing backpacks. Sometimes, they’d pull a wad of cash from the backpacks, count out a sum of money, and trade it for a pair, right there on the sidewalk. Today, I saw a player who had already struck a verbal deal with one broker take a different deal with someone who approached him on the sidewalk. Just like that.
• If you’re a person aspiring to work in the league, you could do worse than to be here in Houston. At the Hilton downtown, where the media are staying, I saw young people with business cards they’d made up handing them out to the agents, business managers and other league-affiliated professionals in the lobby. Not a bad move. Here’s another place to be: at any bar near the downtown party locations for EA Sports, ESPN, the NFLPA, or any other big event. Very often, the VIPs spill out of the parties to have a drink at the nearby establishments. It’s just one more place to maybe make a connection.
• By the way, if you’re into celebrity-watching, you could have done worse than to be at the Hilton this afternoon. In about two hours, I saw Dave Wannstedt, Morten Andersen, Boomer Esiason, Michael Strahan and Mike Greenberg of ESPN’s ‘Mike and Mike.’
• Downtown was crawling with volunteers from the city who were handing out pro-Falcons or pro-Patriots handbills, giving directions, or holding props for tourists to use in selfies. They were all smiling, friendly, clearly excited to be a part of things. I know they didn’t get paid, and don’t get tickets or anything like that. I’m pretty sure all they get to do is say they volunteered with the Super Bowl effort. It’s amazing how much the NFL delivers excitement, electricity, and yes, even status to people freely giving their time and energy on a workday.
• During a casual conversation I had with a fellow I met today, we discussed the life of a recruiter attached to a big agency. My friend was of the impression that recruiters for major agencies make millions of dollars. That’s a common misconception. He was pretty surprised when I told him a typical recruiter is lucky if he’s making a base of around $40,000-$50,000 plus expenses. And I mean, that’s a recruiter who’s really lucky. Most agencies these days will work with a younger agent (or unlicensed recruiter) strictly on an eat-what-you-kill basis. If he makes anything north of $20,000 and gets his expenses covered — plus gets to live The Life — he has to count himself extraordinarily lucky.

Fantasy football has become a critical part of the NFL fan experience, and to me, the reason is obvious: people want to be part of the decision-making process of an NFL team and pit themselves against others to measure their front office acumen.

The Succeed in Football reader, however, is more than just a fan. Our readers are so passionate that they want to be part of the game. That’s why you, dear reader, need to know about the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles, an Indoor Football League (IFL) franchise that’s holding a tryout (along with several other IFL teams) in Dallas next weekend.

“If you’ve ever had a passion to help build your own football franchise from the ground up, the fanchise is necessary in your life!” said Ray Austin, a former NFL player who is the co-founder and Director of Team Operations for the Eagles. “We respect our fans, we engage directly with our fans and give our fans direct contact with us. There are so many awesome components of a football team, from scouting, coaching, or being a bad-ass play-caller, or even a part of our GM staff, to helping with marketing the Screaming Eagles. Either way, you have a say with your team.”

The Eagles are a ‘fanchise’ that literally allows members of its virtual ‘front office’ to make important team decisions, even calling plays during the game. Already, Screaming Eagles subscribers (you can become a scout, assistant coach or assistant GM depending on the monthly fee you choose) have chosen the team’s name, uniform colors, head coach and team logo, with votes ahead on the team’s field and uniform design as well as the makeup of the dance team. Still on the horizon is the big kahuna: actually selecting the players that will try out for the team.

“Fantasy football and gaming is the closest you can get to ever coming close to coaching, calling plays and or drafting or building an actual dynasty. Until Fanchise,” Austin said. “It’s easy to go off of best athletes in the world. How good are you? Can you really eye talent? Can you really choose that key third-down play? We’re giving fans the ability to decide from the name to the coach, to even 3rd and 5. Tell me, what fantasy poll can give you that?”

Though the idea of running a team is tantalizing, there have to be players at the tryout before cuts can be made. That’s why the Eagles (along with the Wichita Falls, Iowa and Colorado IFL franchises) will be in attendance Oct. 22 from noon-4 p.m. at the D1 Dallas facility, 8081 Walnut Hill Ln, #100, Dallas, TX 75231. Cost is $75.

If you’re a player or represent one interested in trying out, click here to register. If you’re interested in becoming part of the team braintrust, click here to get started. Either way, Austin wants to welcome as many Screaming Eagles aboard as possible.

“In February 2017, the first fan-run football team will step on the field, built and run by the fans since Day 1,” Austin said. “Coaches and players will be selected by the fans who want to win. The experience has been amazing, and we look forward to sharing this with the world.”

On Wednesday morning, my phone buzzed, telling me an email had arrived. It was my mother sending me a link she’d found to a story about a person from my past. This person is a former employer, and the first person I’ve met who was a real, live con man.

Of course, con men are almost common in the sports and entertainment business, so I guess it’s a little naive to say such people are rarities. But he was the first person who really conned me, lock, stock and barrel, and on a much larger scale than most who operate in the football world.

This man was part of an organization with tradition in the football square, and when we crossed paths, he seemed to be a person of unimpeachable integrity and personal honor. About eight months later, I found out that not only was this not true, but that he had victimized countless people, and that, through me, he’d exploited even more people because I’d been blind to his methods. In the end, I had to pursue legal means to get back a fraction of the money I’d spent on his behalf, plus the checks he owed me for working for him.

The part that’s most difficult is that, like so many hucksters, he wears his faith on his sleeve and uses it to gain trust. In fact, he’s now attached himself to a major faith-based organization, and is taking advantage of a recent development in the national news to gain leverage over the people that are part of this organization’s audience.

So the dilemma is this: do I risk the terms of the agreement I signed with him in order to expose him? And if I do, how do I expose him? Do I reach out to this organization, and if I do, how? And if I can reach someone, what do I do if they don’t believe me (he’s firmly entrenched with them, and was even in the days when I worked with him)?

I’m trying to prayerfully balance the concerns I have for him taking advantage of even more people vs. my own desire to remain free from litigation that could be costly and take away a lot of bandwidth from my own pursuits. So I guess that’s why I’m bringing it to you, my readers, perhaps to solicit your thoughts and perhaps to assemble it more fully in my own mind.

Thoughts? Let me know in comments. Have a great weekend.