These days, when I’m having one conversation after another with agents, combine trainers, parents, media members, some scouts, coaches and others around the game, I hear a lot of things. A lot of it is code, so I thought I’d pass along some of it here, partly because it amuses me, and partly because, if you’re going to be in the business, you need to know what it means.

Today’s lesson is on the statement: ‘We haven’t even spoken to that kid.’

A big part of what our Rep Rumblings reports is credible information on who’s signing with whom, who’s recruiting whom, who’s firing whom, who’s hiring whom, and other such buzz. Not all of it is proven, black-and-white, cut-and-dried stuff. That means I have to trust the sources that have shown themselves to be reliable after 10-plus years of doing this. Sometimes I’m wrong, I’ll admit, but most of the time, I’m right.

This time of year, especially, we are constantly rolling out info about players who are near signing with certain agents. Sometimes the info is hazy, and we can only report the progress of the vetting process, but sometimes we name the agency. That almost always earns us a phone call from the agency. Sometimes, they freely admit that they are talking to the kid, but deny that they are the favorite. Sometimes they admit they are the favorite, but they’re upset (based on our relationship) that we reported it. But sometimes, they categorically deny that they’ve even spoken to the kid. In fact, that’s exactly what they say: “We haven’t even spoken to the kid.”

In these instances, I’ve learned, it’s important to parse words. Last week, I posted sensitive info about an agency that I was told had the inside track on a mid-round talent in the ’15 draft. Sometime later that day, I got the inevitable call, with an agent (who’s become one of my better friends and is with one of the more honorable firms in the business) claiming there had been no communications with the player in question. I expressed my regret for information he claimed was misguided. I was to learn later, however, that no actual verbal communication did not mean no interest. To his credit, later the same agent expressed that he and his agency had tried to get in through the player’s coach, but had not actually spoken to the young man. What he had originally said was untrue is still untrue, and I had been wrong, but it was also true that I hadn’t been completely off-base.

Here’s another, better example. Probably four or five years ago, I got a tip from a reliable source that a major firm would sign a big-time player in draft that was still more than a year away. My source had been reliable and he was adamant, so I ran with the info. I got no response from the agency right away. However, a year later, shortly after the draft, one of the firm’s agents contacted me. “We never even talked to that kid until a couple of months ago,” he said. Well, maybe not, but obviously, someone had been talking to him. You don’t sign a highly touted player with a casual phone call a couple months before the draft.

You almost need a Rosetta Stone to interpret some of the things you hear in this business. More translations to come.

Last Thursday for our weekly war story, I talked about a difficult situation I’d encountered in my days running the Hula Bowl that was handled with class and respect by an agent I’ve had a long-running relationship with. Today, the other side of the coin.

In those days, though the Hula Bowl was the No. 3 game, it was a hard sell to established agents and top players. Though the game was being played in America’s paradise, East Coast-based players faced a 7-10 hour flight to get to Honolulu on a commercial airline flying in an economy class seat. We were also the first game in the cycle, meaning players would have to miss the first week of combine prep and/or they’d be playing a bowl game almost right up to departure time for Hawaii. There were also concerns about how many scouts would make it to the game and other considerations that are a normal part of the process. Bottom line, I had to be in ‘sell’ mode 24-7, always recruiting, always trying to keep invitees and their agents happy.

Sometime late in December, I got a call from an agent who had signed one of our better receivers and one of our few invitees from the SEC. Obviously, a touchdown-scorer from the nation’s most glamorous conference was a key part of our roster, and would help draw scouts, so I was pretty angry when he called to tell us the young man was withdrawing. But my anger doubled when the agent casually reassured me with this: ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve got you another guy.’

Well, I was younger then, and maybe I would handle things better today, but that really made me blow my top. I tried to control my anger on the phone with the guy, but I’m sure I was tempted to throw something as soon as we were done. Why? Because not only was he pulling one of our ‘A’ players, but he wanted me to do him a favor by substituting in a ‘B’ player. I felt, and still feel, that getting an agent’s player into a postseason all-star game does the agent and his client a tremendous service (though most agents feel they’re the ones doing the favor). So when he dismissed me, then expected me to happily take his lesser client, well, that was tough to take.

The football business is a rather small one, so you see the same faces every year. At the time, I didn’t know this agent especially well, but I’ve continued to move in the same circles as he does, and I’ve since found other reasons to believe my trust in him would be misplaced. It is what it is.

If you’re aspiring to work in this business, let me just say that you’ll come across many people who are self-serving and disrespectful. That’s life, but maybe people like that are more common in the gridiron game. Never repay disrespect with your own rancor, but also trust your gut and your instincts. Those who burn you once are probably going to be inclined to try to burn you twice. Avoid that if you can.