Regrets

26 Thursday Feb 2015

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Just got off the phone with a former NFLPA-licensed agent. He got out of the business about three years ago after experiencing some initial success but ultimately realizing that he couldn’t keep up with the financial demands of the business. Here are three things I took from our conversation.

1. He misses the game dearly: My friend didn’t want to admit it, but I know he wishes he were still in. Even though the money associated with the game is daunting (he had several investors, and I doubt any of them got any return on their commitments), there’s just no high like saying you did the contract of an NFL player; that you identified that player as a future star, and he became one; and that you can walk among others in the business and know you are succeeding, if only for a little while (in his case). It’s a non-drug high that never really goes away, as long as you are ‘winning’ in the business. Of course, winning isn’t easy . . . .

2. His strategy was all wrong: My friend eventually got worn down by the chase for the next big prospect. He made choices that ultimately took him down a path out of football. The irony is that he got into the game just before combine training was becoming a major part of recruiting, and was able to sign a player who became a solid NFL starter. Eventually, that wasn’t enough, and he had to chase big names, maybe to satisfy his own ego. Had he tried to find other hidden gems, making a reasonable investment but not breaking the bank, maybe he could have sustained his success.

3. He’s looking for something to fill that void: My friend hasn’t walked away from sports entirely, and has tried his hand at a number of ventures. Some are related to representation, some to event coordination, but none football-related. I know that’s something he misses, no matter what he says. There’s just no other game like football for action, for theater, for all the things young men (and women, to some degree, but especially men) seek in life.

I know I’ve said this often, but if you aspire to make this game your career, know that it’s an addiction you’ll probably carry with you to your grave, whether you succeed or not. I hope you go for it, but if you do, go for it with all your heart, because this is not the kind of career that fits neatly into a drawer or a closet.

WSW: Right Way, Wrong Way

25 Wednesday Feb 2015

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For today’s War Story Wednesday, I want to take you back to something that happened to me last Thursday, less than a week ago.

You hear all the time that in football — as in life — success is built on relationships. You don’t want to burn bridges, and you don’t want to screw people over. You want them to know that they are valued, and that you are worthy of their trust, no matter how big they are in the game. I’d hope people would treat me the same way, which takes me to what happened last week, when we held our sixth annual ITL Seminar in Indianapolis.

We’ve been fortunate to grow in size every year, and this year was our biggest event yet with around 120 people there. I know, that doesn’t sound like a lot of people, but it’s big enough that if you play your cards right, you can ‘hide’ in such a group pretty easily.

Our annual seminar is open only to ITL clients, and I make that perfectly clear, both on the site and in the various newsletter editions I send out to agents and financial planners in the game. I do this because I’m trying to spur business, of course, but also to avoid uncomfortable situations at the door. I don’t want to tell anyone that they can’t attend, though, of course, there are always one or two exceptions.

One ‘good’ exception this year was New York-based agent J.R. Rickert, who’s with Authentic Athletix. Though J.R. isn’t an ITL client per se, we’ve always enjoyed a positive relationship, and his partners have always been clients. For that reason, when he asked if he could join us Thursday, I was happy to welcome him. It’s not something he’s ever attended before, and I was happy to share some goodwill. Of course, there were others who weren’t so fair-minded. There are three examples that come to mind.

One was a group of three people who showed up. They were loosely linked to a combine prep service that has been a long-time client, so when they showed up at the event, I let them in at the request of the trainer. I was a bit frustrated that one invitation had turned into three, but I felt it was the right thing to do to let them in. Of course, I told them that it was normally for members only, and requested that they sign up this week. We’ll see if they follow through on that.

Another was a single, first-year agent. He knows all about ITL and knew the event was clients-only, but I could tell he was trying to play dumb when I confronted him at the door. I asked him to sign up this week — and to his credit, he offered to pay cash on the spot for a month’s subscription, which I declined — and so far, he has not. I made sure to greet him when I saw him later in the week in an effort to show good faith and take the high road, but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting on him to make good on his promise. I don’t think anything’s on the way.

The third person was a financial planner based in the Northeast. For the second straight year, he ducked into my event despite not being a member. He’s clearly trying to get around becoming a client as he likes to show up right before the start, when there’s a long line of people clamoring to get in and things are a bit more rushed. This year, he waited for me to leave the registration table before he made his move, but I saw his name on the admission list, so I know he was there. Next year, I will make a point of confronting him.

It’s not that I’m into confrontation, but there are a couple of reasons I take this stuff seriously. No. 1, this has become a client appreciation night, and I’m not appreciative that he — or anyone else who’s not a client — is taking advantage of that. No. 2, these events are not free, and it’s frustrating that someone would not want to pay his fair share. But the third reason is that I resent the lack of respect these folks have, not just for me, but for the others in the room.

The football world is a small one. As you rise through the ranks and build relationships, make sure not to blatantly disregard civility and fairness. One way or another, it will come back to haunt you. I don’t hold grudges, but I also won’t let these three groups take advantage of me, or anyone I know, ever again.

Three Lessons from Phil

20 Friday Feb 2015

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So last night was our sixth annual ITL Seminar, which we always hold the Thursday night of the NFL Combine. Last night’s featured speaker was Phil Emery, formerly the GM of the Bears. He spoke to the 125 or so ITL clients who made it out to the Indiana Convention Center as part of our annual event. It was very well-received, and we got lots of positive feedback.

As part of his presentation, I gave him 10 questions I always get from young agents and financial planners as well as people hoping to make it in the football business. The first question was, what’s the best way to secure a scouting internship with an NFL team? His answer was lengthy and detailed, and we hope to have it in its entirety on the site within a couple weeks. But there were three takeaways I got just from listening to him, so I thought I’d pass them along here.

1. Don’t say you hope to be the team’s GM: Phil said, as a GM, it was a bit insulting for a young man coming into the game to be thinking in terms of such a lofty position. I think he sees it as presumptuous for someone who hasn’t even achieved a place on the team to be thinking of running the team. He said he wants a young person who is adamant about mastering skills, one by one, that will build a resume over time. So be measured if you’re asked about your goals.

2. You can’t work for free anymore, no matter how badly you want to: Phil said the government has gotten involved here, and for tax reasons, it’s almost impossible to have interns around that aren’t getting (a) pay or (b) college credit. Now, if you get college credit, there’s an excellent chance you’re not getting paid. But without college in the mix, it’s pretty tough. So, free work is one less thing scouting hopefuls have to offer.

3. Don’t hope to make a late-life career change: Phil said teams he’s worked for get letters all the time from highly successful people who are ready to throw away their life’s work (stock analyst, medical professional, whatever) to become scouting interns. Literally. He’s seen lengthy, detailed letters from people who claim their passion has always been football, and that they are ready to start over. Phil said that if it were really their passion, they wouldn’t have waited until mid-life to pursue it. As tough as that is to hear, I think there’s something to that. We all have only so much time, and scouting careers aren’t built over night.

These are just a few of the gems we got last night. We’ll have more for you when we get the film up. We promise to put selected passages on YouTube and, hopefully, the entire presentation on our site. We’ll keep you posted.

 

WSW: Interference

18 Wednesday Feb 2015

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I mentioned late last week that I conducted interview skills training for two young men who’ll be in Indianapolis this week, SFA OH Gus Johnson and Texas A&M OH Trey Williams. Here’s the video, if you want to check it out.

My film guy, Chris Bailey, is a longtime friend of the family who also works with my wife at our church. However, he’s also a highly accomplished back judge in the Texas high school football ranks, annually working several games per week plus top playoff games. He’s also a college ref, and there’s a great chance he’ll be a full-time member of a Big 12 or SEC crew someday soon. At any rate, he’s a veteran of the high school game in Texas. Last Friday, we were setting up for the shoot when Chris realized he had worked a game during Trey’s senior year at DeKaney High School in Spring, Texas.

At one point during that game, Chris recalled Trey taking the ball in the backfield, breaking through the line and into the open field. As defenders gave chase, Chris realized Trey was running directly at him. This meant Chris had to keep up with a young man who can probably run the 40 in the 4.4 range, only Chris had to do it while backpedaling.

As Chris maneuvered backwards, he changed direction to avoid the oncoming rusher, but Trey shifted and ran straight at him. Bewildered, Chris shifted again, and so did Trey. At this point, Chris peered into Trey’s face mask and realized the young man had a broad grin on his face, even as he took it to the house. Chris wondered, is he messing with me?

After the game, Chris caught up to Trey. “Hey, why wouldn’t you let me get out of your way?” he asked.

“Aw man, you were my blocker!” Trey responded with the same broad grin.

Chris hadn’t realized that as he backpedaled, he had shielded Trey from pursuing defensive backs.

Trey’s a pretty resourceful young man. Remember that as you’re watching him do his thing at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday when he runs for the scouts (and the cameras) on the NFL Network as part of Group 6.

What Happens in Indy

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

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There seems to be a lot of confusion about what people in the football business do in Indianapolis (besides freeze) during combine week. Let’s try to clear that up today with a very brief overview.

If you’re in Indy for the combine, you’re in one of four groups: player, media, NFL, agent or vendor. There are others who show up to be part of the mix, but that’s pretty much it.

Players, obviously, are there to compete and put up numbers. They are there for four days. The last day is always the day they go to Lucas Oil Stadium and run, jump, etc. The first day is the travel day when they fill out all the forms, make sure they’re fitted right, etc. Somewhere in those four days, they also go to the hospital and get all the medical stuff taken care of. They also are interviewed extensively by NFL teams, either as part of the scheduled session the combine sets out or as part of an individual session an interested team schedules.

Most players also are run through the NFL media room, where there are hundreds of credentialed writers and broadcasters there to ask questions, get video, do interviews, etc. The bigger players are sent to a podium, where they get the full treatment in front of a panel of cameras. The lesser players wind up getting placed at tables where they are interviewed one-on-one, mostly by local writers and media.

If you’re NFL media, you’re pretty much stuck in that room in Lucas Oil Stadium for three days, because they bring the players to you. What most writers do is get tons of quotes from players that they have ‘in the can’ as they do features later throughout the spring.

For agents, the schedule varies. The biggest event of the week is the NFLPA seminar, which is always held on the Friday of the combine. All contract advisors have to attend at least one meeting per year, and this is the one that most attend; the other two are in Las Vegas the weekend before the draft and in Baltimore in mid-May. Most of the agents at the seminar don’t have clients at the combine, so they arrive Thursday night, go to the seminar Friday, then race to the airport that afternoon.

Seasoned agents do things a little differently. There is a lot of meeting and schmoozing with league officials, especially for those agents who have players awaiting free agency in a few weeks. The more connected agents also sit down with scouts and NFL executives to bang the drum for their clients. Usually, agents will hang around at least until their client works out, though there’s really not a lot they can do for them. At the combine, it’s all about what the player does in Lucas Oil Stadium.

If you’re NFL — scout, executive, coach, other league official — your routine is pretty simple. You go to Lucas Oil Stadium early in the morning, watch players participate in drills all day, meet with your team, then hit the nightlife (or go to bed). Workouts start Friday and continue through Monday. These days, fans can pretty much see everything the scouts are seeing because it’s all broadcast, but I can tell you there’s one person who won’t be watching: me. I used to sneak into the combine in the early 2000s, and to me, if you want to REALLY get bored, watch men run 40 yards, time after time, all day. It was complete drudgery. I’d rather have nails driven through my eyelids.

If you’re a vendor, you’re pretty much in one of two places, either the Omni Hotel or the Indiana Convention Center (ICC). The ICC is where we’ll be holding our seminar Thursday evening, and we’ll be in amongst several people trying to pitch weight training, mental skills metrics, and other services to NFL types. In the old days, vendors were practically stacked on top of each other because the RCA Dome was connected to the ICC, meaning all scouts had to parade down the hallways to get out of the building. These days, there’s not the same traffic, but you still get some vendors who don’t want to pay Omni prices that use the ICC.

The Omni is kind of the ‘hangout’ for people when they’re between drills or looking to hook up with friends in the business. It has a big lobby with plenty of suites, and Nike always sets up there, as well as several other more non-descript services. But the big win with the Omni is that you’re in the middle of the action. I like to hang out at the Omni on Saturday in the room behind the lobby. The wi-fi is free, and everyone comes through there. It’s the best place to catch up with all my clients and friends.

Combine Week vs. Senior Bowl Week

16 Monday Feb 2015

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Well, I leave Wednesday for Indianapolis. It’s National Invitational Camp (the official name of the combine) week. Combine Week is the second-best week of the year to someone like me after the Senior Bowl. If you’re a person who’ll be in Indy this week trying to make connections, let’s talk a bit about how it differs from Mobile.

People think of the combine as the biggest week in football, at least from an NFL standpoint. The thing is, there are two ‘parties’ for the NFL, and they are the Senior Bowl and the combine. You’re pretty much going to get everyone from the NFL at both of these events, with two major differences.

One, at the Senior Bowl, two teams are still alive, so their staffs are a little abbreviated. You won’t see any of the coaches from those teams, and you might not see as many scouts or the GM.

Two, I always describe the Senior Bowl as a football party where everyone is invited, and to some degree that’s true. It’s far more ‘open’ and if you’re at least peripherally associated with the game, it’s relatively easy to get credentialed. It’s also true that the people of Mobile are super-friendly but also very welcoming and hospitable to football folks, because the Senior Bowl is the No. 1 event on their social calendar (though they take Mardi Gras pretty seriously there, as well). Each night, there’s a gala event sponsored by some major part of the football industry, and it’s by invitation only. People come out in their suits and evening dresses and it’s clearly a big deal.

On the other hand, at the combine, if you don’t have a badge around your neck, access is very limited. You won’t get any farther than the front door of the players hotel if you don’t have an NFL credential. You won’t get past the entrance to Lucas Oil Stadium if you don’t have a media badge. You won’t get into the NFLPA seminar without signing in and showing that you’re an agent.

Probably the biggest difference between the two is that in Mobile, the big event of the week is relatively open. Even if you don’t have a badge, you can come in and watch practices. And if you want to hobnob with NFL types but don’t have any real connections, you can just go to the team hotel, the Renaissance, and you’re good to go. At the combine, you’re not getting into the stadium to check out the workouts unless you work for the NFL or have otherwise obtained a badge, and they’re not so easy to acquire. Meanwhile, because the city is a bigger and more spread out, there’s not one hotel where everyone hangs out. I guess the closest thing to the Renaissance in Indy is the Omni; it’s become the place where all the vendors hoping to attract NFL business rent space and set up suites.

I’ll try to check in frequently from Indy this week, but don’t hold me to it. It’s going to be busy, but also fun. As always, I’ll let you know on Twitter whenever I’ve got something new.

Scenes from a combine prep facility

13 Friday Feb 2015

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This morning, Inside the League conducted interview skills prep with two players headed to the combine next week, Texas A&M OH Trey Williams and Stephen F. Austin OH Gus Johnson. Here are a few random thoughts.

  • Everyone who says today’s athlete is different, and that the joy of the game is gone once you get to the NFL (or near the NFL), is wrong. I wish we had filmed Gus and Trey going back and forth about whose high school was better. Trey went to DeKaney HS in Spring, Texas, (a Class 6A school just outside Houston) and Gus went to Gilmer (a Class 2A school in East Texas). DeKaney won the state title in 2011, when Trey was still there (here’s a picture), while Gilmer is defending state champ. Trey’s position was that he had the upper hand because (a) he was there won his school won its only state title and (b) because it’s bigger and has more talented athletes, while Gus contended his argument was stronger because (a) Gilmer has been a consistently dominant school at several levels of Texas state football, (b) DeKaney had more athletes only because it’s much bigger, and (c) his school is the defending state champ. The best part was that neither got excited, raised his voice, or banged the table; both remained cool, calculated and dry-witted (at one point Trey even threw in a Kanye-style ‘I’m gonna let you finish’). It was like watching ‘Meet the Press,’ but funny. It was good-natured jabbing. That’s what sports is all about.
  • On the way over, I called one of my friends in scouting and asked, ‘what’s the one question you always ask that a player better get right?’ He didn’t hesitate: ‘Is there anything else we need to know about?’ was his response. He said that most teams already know the answers to questions they ask, and they just want to see how the player responds. However, if it turns out there was an issue a player tried to slide past them, off their draft board he goes.
  • I assisted an agent in placing one of his clients with an ex-scout for interview skills work this morning. In the course of our conversation, he mentioned that the industry leader in interview prep, a former NFL GM who has essentially ‘created’ the market, is overbooked and unavailable. He added that his prices were prohibitive anyway. That cracked me up. You know what players need to know before they go into the interview room? Be honest! Be forthright! Be contrite! Be you! That’s all there is to it. If you try to fool teams, they’re going to find out at some point anyway. You’re not going to trick people for long, if at all. Just own what you did (if you did anything) and be a man about it, and you’re set. And it doesn’t cost a cent to do that.

WSW2: More Thoughts from a Veteran Agent

12 Thursday Feb 2015

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For the second part of War Story Wednesday, we continue our conversation with Howard Shatsky (@HowardShatsky), who has a unique perspective on sports representation given his almost three decades in the league. Today, Howard discusses a recent recruiting experience that has become all too common, plus discusses the way money has come to influence the industry in a negative way.

A few years ago I met with a player with a second- or third-round NFL grade and his father. Having spoken with his coaches and many of my NFL contacts, my conclusion was the player would be drafted in the sixth or seventh round, at best. The first thing the player’s father expressed to me was, “Just so you know, we want $15,000 up front from whomever we sign with.

“No disrespect to your 25 years of experience,” the father continued, “but I don’t think that matters. My son is going to be drafted in the second or third round based solely on his talent, and that has nothing to do with you.”

When I gave my assessment of where the player would be drafted, I was told, “You are crazy; all the other agents are telling us different.” He ended up signing with an agent who had very little experience, though he did give the young man the $15,000 he and his father were looking for. The player was not drafted, signed as a free agent, was released before training camp, picked up by another team and than released again. Thus, based on the initial upfront payment and various expenses, on that one player alone, the agent lost approximately $20,000.

I wish I could tell you this was unusual, but in this day and age, the vast majority of players make their agent decision based on how much money an agent is willing to spend to obtain them as a client. In my opinion, this is not a good thing for the industry. Back in the old days, if an agent had two or three first-round picks, that was a great year. The large firms in the industry now routinely sign up to eight first-round picks. Is that because that many players suddenly decided a big agency was what they needed? I don’t think so.

I am often asked how to get into the agent business, and over the years my answer to that question has changed. When I am asked that now, my answer is to have very rich parents, or someone that is willing to loan you a lot of money. One of the issues is, are agents getting value for the money they spend to sign players?

Whenever I am asked about that, I think about the fact that the best player I ever worked with was (former Giants DE) Michael Strahan, and somehow, despite the fact he did not work out with a personal trainer for the combine, he was still able to make the Hall of Fame! In my opinion, when players are selecting an agent, they should not only consider how much the agent is willing to spend on them, but the experience and commitment that person has to his clients.

Howard Shatsky started his career at the NFLPA and has been working with NFL players since 1989. Howard currently represents NFL players for his own firm, Professional Football Management, and represents coaches for the firm, Coaches, Inc. You can follow Howard on Twitter at @HowardShatsky.

 

WSW: The Evolution of Agent Recruiting

11 Wednesday Feb 2015

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Today, for War Story Wednesday, I turn the blog over to Howard Shatsky of Pro Football Management (@HowardShatsky), who’s been a successful NFL agent for decades. He’s represented a number of pro football luminaries including former Giants DE Michael Strahan, who has transcended football and is now as known in Hollywood circles as he is in football circles.

Howard has a unique perspective on things, having seen the representation side of the game go through several mutations. I asked him to discuss the transition to the modern age of athlete representation with me, and it resulted in this blog post, as well as the one we’ll publish tomorrow.

Today, Howard, discusses recruiting. Tomorrow, he talks more about anecdotes from his time in the game to illustrate his points.

Recently you may have read a post by Neil Stratton talking about the expenses an agent must incur in order to sign a prospective late-round draft choice. This post led to a discussion between Neil and I about how the industry has changed.

My first year representing NFL players was 1989 and that year I signed a second-round pick from Penn State. Although we had been speaking by telephone, the first time we actually met in person was at the Senior Bowl, and he did not end up signing with the firm I was working for until after the NFL Combine. I signed a few other players and did not have my first conversation with any of them until sometime around December.

The recruiting aspect of the industry has changed dramatically since that time. The majority of recruiting now takes place the summer prior to the player’s senior season. By the end of the season most college players have already narrowed down their list of potential agents, if they have not already decided on who they will sign with. Many players even sign within a few hours of their last college game.

There is a very simple reason for this: personal trainers and combine prep. When I first started representing players, agents did not pay for personal trainers. Players worked out at their respective schools with their strength coaches. The only expense involved in signing a draft choice was occasionally giving the player a few hundred dollars to pay for gas and groceries. My, how the game has changed.

Now, players want to sign with an agent very close to the end of the season so they can fly to a training facility and start working out for the combine. Most prospective top-round picks want to train at a known facility. The expense for this alone can be in the neighborhood of $25,000. This does not include monthly cash stipends, workout gear, food, rental cars and numerous other things players expect an agent to now pay for. Trainers are well aware that in order to sign these players, an agent has to pay for a trainer, so be prepared to pay a lot more than the going rate for an athletic trainer. In most recruit meetings, the first question I am asked is, what are you going to pay for? Even players who have free agent NFL grades expect an agent to pay for their trainer. If you are able to sign a top-round pick, plan on budgeting a minimum of $50,000.

Howard Shatsky started his career at the NFLPA and has been working with NFL players since 1989. Howard currently represents NFL players for his own firm Professional Football Management and Coaches for the firm Coaches, Inc. You can follow Howard on Twitter at @HowardShatsky.

 

Long shots

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

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I had a couple of experiences this weekend that really underlined the passion of young athletes trying to live their football dreams, but also the confusion that surrounds such pursuits. The irony is that young men trying to star on football fields as players face almost the same odds as those seeking to ‘star’ off the field as scouts, agents, or executives in the game. Both of this weekend’s experiences involved the Arena Football League.

  • On Sunday, I attended an open tryout for the AFL’s Los Angeles Kiss in Southeast Houston. Around 100 young men showed up, with about half of them walk-ups, i.e., they weren’t even sure they wanted to work out until Sunday. Some were drinking beer in the parking lot before the workout. That didn’t stop their wives, girlfriends, kids, parents, and friends from filling the bleachers for the tryout, which cost $80 in advance/$95 day of tryout (cash only). There were probably as many people watching as there were trying out. I often wonder if the players attending these tryouts know what’s ahead of them if they make it. Most of these players make around $700/game and have their apartments and food taken care of. Their personnel director told me today that none were offered contracts, but about four were good enough that they may be offered a chance to come to L.A. to work out with the team at some point. They won’t be offered a contract; they’ll just have their expenses covered while they remain in AFL limbo, hoping to be put on the roster. Think about that; the number of players who might get a chance to play in the AFL off that tryout was about four percent, and those players will only get a chance to play, with no guarantees. Yet their loved ones were there on Sunday with their phones out, filming every sprint and every jump, and probably holding out hope that their player would get ‘discovered.’
  • The previous day, I had gotten a call from a good friend. He’s a great guy and his family is close to mine. He has become friends with a young man who played some college football at various small-school stops and even took part in a number of indoor football games over the past 18 months or so. My friend has taken a paternal interest in him, and really believes in the young man’s athleticism and chance to play in the NFL someday. At any rate, the young man attended an AFL workout in New Orleans on Saturday, and apparently drew a little interest from a team official, though it wasn’t enough for him to be offered a contract. At any rate, my friend was calling because he hoped I would be able to get the young man a tryout with the Texans. My initial reaction was to chuckle and insist that I’m not nearly as connected as my friend thinks I am. My second reaction, however, was to caution him that the young man is still almost as far away from his NFL dreams as he was before the tryout in New Orleans. I told my friend, in fact, that he would have to stick out so much at that tryout that even a toddler would call him a stone-cold baller if he were indeed an NFL talent. I’d even go so far as to say my friend needs to encourage the young man to get on with his life rather than continuing to pour time, money and effort into NFL pursuits.

Though both of these anecdotes provide a dose of gravity to the process and are perhaps heavy on desperation, you can’t fault these players’ desire. You need to have no less a drive to succeed in football if your goal is to work in the business.