A new start

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

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I try to be encouraging in this space. On Monday, when I talked about knowing when to quit, though I was honest, maybe I wasn’t so encouraging. Today, here’s a bit more encouragement.

I work with four AFL teams. I help them locate players, find their contact info, identify their agents, etc. Finding players is not so hard, but finding good players can be quite challenging. So, one of the teams I work with is an expansion team going into Las Vegas next spring, and I have a friend who will not only be running personnel for the team (the Outlaws) but also helping coach, along with a number of other things. Pretty much, on the AFL side of football, “a number of other things” is always part of your job responsibilities.

So here’s his story. For the last three years, he was with an AFL team, handling personnel and working on the offensive side of the ball. However, his goal was to have a greater role in personnel and, best-case scenario, scout for an NFL team. Given his desire to reach his goals, he saved a bunch of money, then left the team he was working for after last season in an effort to ‘burn his ships’ and sink or swim. I helped him get his name in with a couple NFL teams this spring, but we both knew it wouldn’t be easy finding the right opportunity. Sometime this summer I lost track of him.

Anyway, this week, he contacted me to tell me of his new venture. Obviously, I was excited for him, and I can tell he’s really pumped up by this opportunity. I mean, the chance to launch something, to really put your imprint on a new team, is not only rare but super-cool. I’m psyched that (a) he’s back in the game, (b) we’re back in touch, and (c) he’s got a new, awesome opportunity.

So here’s my point. My friend knew he wanted a new opportunity, so he socked away his money and went for it. He didn’t get his No. 1 pick (working as an NFL scout) this time, but he did get something almost as good: the chance to have a foundation role with a new team.

First, pay your dues. Then, follow your dreams. Be smart about it, but do it. You won’t be sorry. It might not always happen the way you want it to, and you might not get the exact thing you want, but knowing you’re chasing the one thing you always wanted to do, well, there’s just nothing else like it.

Knowing when to quit

29 Monday Sep 2014

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This time of year is always bittersweet for me. On the one hand, lots of newly licensed NFLPA contract advisors are celebrating passing their exams and getting a chance to finally sink their teeth into their dreams. It’s fun to walk with them as they learn the ropes of a new business.

On the other hand, well, there’s this:

  • “I am . . . sitting here looking at the October insurance invoice for $1,400 due by October 1 praying for some guidance on which way to go. Decision time.”
  • “I don’t want to be a part of this culture/celebration of violence anymore. Thanks for all your help, I would have never made it as far as I did without you.”
  • “Just wanted to let you know that I have taken a job as an in-house lawyer with a company up here in Cleveland. They aren’t going to permit me to continue with the NFL stuff, which kinda sucks, but oh well.”
  • “It’s a bummer because we love it, but the opportunity cost is rough to ignore.”

It’s hard to hear this when you’ve worked alongside someone for a year or years, and they are closing the door on a chapter of their lives, however brief. However, I rarely if ever try to talk people out of this decision. Honestly, deep down, I’m often happy when I hear them say these things.

This business is hard, and it’s not for everyone. There are lots and lots of success stories, but there are far more that don’t end so well. If you’ve pursued a career as an NFL agent or tried to be an NFL scout, you’ve come to know and understand the sacrifices, financial and personal, that you’ll have to make. Anyone who takes an eyes-wide-open look at these sacrifices and decides it’s not for them is way better off than the ones who keep hoping for the best in the face of overwhelming odds.

It’s not that I’m saying you shouldn’t take chances. Far from it, in fact. It’s just that the mere fact of taking that faith leap to chase your dreams is a pretty considerable risk in itself, and measuring risk is part of life. Part of success is knowing when to quit and move on to another venture. Who can argue with someone when they’ve determined that they’ve given all they can give?

I often say that people only leave this business feet first — on their shields, so to speak — but it doesn’t have to be that way. I guess that’s my pitch, as a consultant in this business. Give it your very best effort, and I humbly feel that using ITL maximizes your chances for success. But if it’s not happening, and you’ve counted the cost, understand that there are other dreams you can pursue. There’s no shame in laying one dream down to chase another.

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.

WSW: Finding Felder

25 Thursday Sep 2014

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We’re running a little late on War Story Wednesday, considering it’s Thursday, but I think you’ll like today’s story. It’s a good look at how players slide below the radar.

Bill Schwenk had only been in player representation a month when, during the 2011 season, he noticed a cornerback at Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., named Bobby Felder. Felder had played alongside Nicholls St. CB Lardarius Webb, who went 3/88 to the Ravens in 2009. Webb and Schwenk had a mutual friend, and this friend insisted to Schwenk that Felder was a player.

Felder had compiled big-time stats during his college career, but no interest from agents and only minimal attention from scouts. Though Felder had logged 190 tackles in three years, along with five picks, eight passes broken up, 12 passes defensed, 49 tackles, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three blocked kicks during his senior season, he was missed.

How come? Maybe because Thibodaux is in swamp country in South Louisiana; Nicholls’ main claim to fame was that every summer it was home to Manning Passing Academy. However, it was by no means a football factory, having gone 01-10 in 2011 and 4-7 in 2010. The fact that the team went 1-10 his senior season didn’t do anything to help him create buzz. In addition, Felder wasn’t written up by either of the scouting combines, National and BLESTO, going into the season; of course, this was because the school didn’t bother to have a ‘junior day,’ the time when the combines come in to time, weigh and measure possible prospects. If a team were to find him, it would have to actually go to campus and check him out, or at least see him in a road game. It’s easy for a player to develop a rap as non-athletic when no one has a 40 time on him, and lack of speed at cornerback is the kiss of death.

It turns out that only three teams made it to Nicholls that season: Seattle, Oakland and Atlanta. Seemingly, none were all that impressed (though the Falcons met with Schwenk at the Senior Bowl to discuss Felder). Later, Bill asked a friendly scout why only three teams had made it to Thibodaux. “Honestly, they’re lazy!” was the response. The scout told Bill that because Felder played at lowly and remote Nicholls State, scouts knew few GMs would ask about the school or its players. That meant they could cut the school out of their route, and most did.

At any rate, Bill was a believer, and he continued to recruit Felder. He only got competition from one other agent, a veteran who heard of Felder very late and tried to get through to him through the cornerback’s brother-in-law. Bill staved off the older agent and signed Felder, but making believers of NFL teams wasn’t easy. That’s why he made a game film and started to send it out to teams.

One of the scouts who saw his film was Green Bay’s Alonzo Highsmith, who’s known in the business for his keen eye and excellent insights. Highsmith went directly to GM Ted Thompson and told him he had found a sleeper.

From there, word started to get out, and by the end of February, there was buzz around Felder. It reached such a fever pitch that when the school scheduled its pro day, many NFL scouts called to request that it be rescheduled to be held the day before LSU’s pro day so scouts could make both workouts. Alas, at his big day, he ran in the 4.6 range, turning most schools off. Only one team retained interest: Minnesota. The next day, Bill drove him to Baton Rouge to meet the Vikings’ scout and defensive backs coach after LSU’s pro day.

His chances mainly extinguished, the Vikings were the only team that called after the draft in April. Bill quickly signed Felder to a contract as an undrafted free agent, and the Colonel beat overwhelming odds and made the roster. Two years later, he’s still in the league with the Bills.

It’s just one more illustration that there are still sleepers, and scouts and agents who are willing to trust their instincts can find players in out-of-the-way places.

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.

Rising, falling and in-between

22 Monday Sep 2014

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I’ve got thoughts on lots of different things, so rather than drone on and on about any one of them, I’ll touch on several topics today.

  • I know this is 2014, and we’re not supposed to be shocked by anything anymore, but did you know there is a service that ranks national youth football teams as young as fourth grade? Here are the sixth-grade rankings; my son, who weighs 90 pounds and played his second-ever football game on Saturday, faced the No. 2 team on this list on Saturday. He’s one of 14 players on the team; five others are in their first year on the gridiron. On Saturday, due to injuries and illness, we dressed 12 for the game. The results were pretty much predictable. By the way, when we shook hands after the game, I was able to look their biggest player (No. 50, pictured in the above link) in the eye. Actually, I looked up to him a bit, and I’m more than 6-3. He probably had me by about 30 pounds and I weigh 230. Crazy on a lot of levels.
  • LSU OT La’el Collins strongly considered leaving for the NFL after last season; in fact, it was a major surprise that he didn’t exit for pro football glory last January, as so many Tigers do every year. As always, it’s smartest to strike while the iron is hot. I texted with two scouts today and they both say he’s gone from a left OT prospect to more of a right tackle or even a guard prospect. No way he’s in the first-round conversation anymore based on the first third of the season.
  • Interesting comments from Shannon Sharpe here. Probably the closest I’ve heard to how I feel about it. There are limits to what even the NFL can do to control its players.
  • I told you in this space that I would be doing Leigh Steinberg’s new radio show on Yahoo! Sports radio tonight, but I’ve been moved to Oct. 6. I hope you can join us, especially if you’re interested in the football business and how you can get started, get established, and eventually build success in the game.

Quid pro quo

19 Friday Sep 2014

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One of the things that I’ve found to be true in the football world is that it’s a ‘quid pro quo’ world. Who benefits most from a relationship? It’s a question you must constantly ask yourself as you gain contacts and build your network. Is this a specifically football-related issue? Maybe not. But let me tell a story about how it’s been illustrated in my career.

When I ran the 2008 Hula Bowl, I had one agent who was constantly calling me and advocating for a certain player. He just wouldn’t stop. I mean, no matter how many times I told him it wasn’t going to happen, this agent kept on calling me back, up to the eleventh hour, trying to shoehorn him into my game. Keep in mind that I already had one of his clients in the game, but he thought I owed him another one. Well, sorry. No dice. We’ve had only infrequent contact over the years though we both definitely know each other.

So earlier this year, he confronted me about something I’d written last fall. He was polite about it, and it didn’t turn into anything heated, but he was clearly angry, though subdued. I couldn’t help but laugh when he brought it up, and I wondered at the time what made things so funny. I’ve thought about it since, and finally come up with the answer.

This agent thought he had done me a real favor by sending me one of his players, and felt he’d been wronged when I didn’t take the other one. Quid pro quo. When I further wrote something that he found negative on the site — which is part of my job, and something that always creates tension in my relationship with various agents — he felt like I’d further let him down. On the other hand, I felt like he owed me. I’d gotten one of his clients into my game even though he’d never thought enough of me to become an ITL client (though I’m sure he’s used unauthorized passwords to access the site), and I took offense at that. So maybe that was my quid pro quo moment, too.

So what happened early in 2014 had its seeds in that time in late ’07 and early ’08 when he was trying to get a player into the game and I was resisting. He felt he had done me a favor by putting one big-school client in my game, and was doing me another favor by letting one more of his clients play. I felt I was doing him a favor by allowing a player with an iffy draft status into my game; after all, that invitation included an all-expenses-paid week in Hawaii, where he’d be evaluated by scouts and given a chance to go from nowhere to somewhere, football-wise.

As you work your way up the football ladder, I hope you aren’t as small as I was earlier this year (and sometimes, admittedly, still can be at times). However, I also want you to realize that, in the football world, score-keeping takes place off the field and not just on it.

Commitment

18 Thursday Sep 2014

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The deadline for agents to renew their registration with the NFLPA is Oct. 15. Meanwhile, agents who took the test this summer are have already been notified of their results, and they’re sending in their fees and acquiring liability insurance now.

This time of dreams starting and dreams ending got me thinking about who fails, and why? I think part of it is commitment, and it’s true whether you want to be a scout or an agent (two of the major groups I deal with). Let me begin with a brief story.

When new agents come into the league, I try to reach out to them. I get various reactions. Some understand that the league is a tough nut to crack, they have a lot to learn, and they eventually become clients. Some understand it’s a tough business, that they have a lot to learn, but don’t want to pay $25/month to hopefully learn more and increase their chances of succeeding. Some refuse to acknowledge that they’ll be anything less than an instant success. I don’t often stay in regular contact with them.

At any rate, I think there are three levels of commitment. The first level of commitment is represented by the person who actually goes for it. Rather than saying, ‘I’m going to be an agent some day,’ he actually pays his fee and takes the exam. I have a lot of respect for everyone who does this. The equivalent in the scouting industry would probably be people who major in sports management in college. It’s an affirmative step in the right direction.

The next level of commitment says, ‘I’m going to get certified, but I’m going to keep my costs minimal so if I fail, I’m not wrecked.’ I understand this level of commitment. These folks are usually the ones that take my call, but realize their chances of success are a long shot, and want to manage their risk. They concede that that initial $4000 or so is gone, and they’re a bit afraid to go any farther than that. Though I understand them, I wish I had reached them before they got certified so they’d know more about the level of financial investment required. Aspiring scouts in this group would probably be the ones that start a draft website. They take a step and put themselves out there, but they’re always guarding their perception by others, and rarely go outside their circle to really gain followers.

The next level of commitment is similar to the last. The people in this group realize they have a lot to learn, and their risk tolerance is minimal, but still they are willing to spend a bit more money — in the case of ITL, $29.95/mo — to really get the answers they need. Maybe you want to be a scout; the equivalent here would be the people who aggressively network, attend coaches clinics, seminars, out-of-town symposiums, and things like that to increase their odds of success. Either way, people in this group are willing to spend a little more money and a little more time to increase their odds of success.

The people in the final level of commitment basically take the lid off and go all out to win, knowing there are no guarantees. Some of them leave their day jobs (which I don’t recommend). This can be a dangerous group. For one, the agent business can be plenty pricey if you’re not careful, and spending bottomless sums on combine training, interview skills, and whatever doesn’t lock anything in. However, if you have the resources and you’re smart about it, you can be dangerous to the status quo. I guess the people pursuing scouting that would be in this group are those that start seeking NFL and college internships while they’re still in high school, never talk about anything else, make it clear to everyone they know that they have one dream, and put everything else (social lives, hobbies, career pursuits, etc.) on the back burner.

You can succeed if you are willing to do whatever it takes. Again, I’m not saying you will, but you can. It’s a real joy for someone like me when I can play a role in that.

WSW: How to be a Saints scout

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

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Barrett Wiley spent seven years (2001-2008) as a scout with the New Orleans Saints. Now a successful entrepreneur, I had a chance to interview him about his experiences in the game. One question I always ask is, how did you become a scout?

His answer: a big break and hard work.

“I became a scout after having an internship with the Saints, and we had all the changeover between (former head coach Mike) Ditka and (then-Saints GM) Randy Mueller at the time, and the acting general manager, interim general manager Charles Bailey, he looked in-house for some help on the football side to watch tape. He knew I was a guy who played football, who had football in my blood, and he said, ‘Well, just watch this tape,’ and I want to say it was the defensive lineman from Florida State, Corey . . . he was with Philadelphia, Corey Simon, and he said, ‘Barrett, watch this tape and tell me what you think of it,’ and I was watching tape, and I was saying, ‘he’s explosive, he’s powerful, he can run, he can do XYZ.’ I was saying things in crude elementary terms because I didn’t have the terminology down, but he saw that I could evaluate guys, you know, I don’t want to say instantly, but I had an eye for that. Then he just let me, after hours, after I did my duties with the media relations department, because that was what my internship was, I would go there after hours and help out. After Randy Mueller came in, everyone that was in place, he just left them in place because of the time constraints, because he came on either right before or right after the Senior Bowl of 2000, so with that said, I just did whatever they needed.

“I used to joke with our football assistant that I was the special man, whether that was driving players to medical, to physicals, picking players up at the airport, babysitting them, getting cell phones for the coaches, whatever they needed, I did it, so then, by me not being afraid of work, they said well, we have a position open, and he’s earned a shot at it, and I was given the job of West Coast scout for the 2001 season. I did that for two years, then I transitioned to combine scout, which goes to colleges in a specific area and evaluates guys going from junior to a rising senior.”

I asked Barrett how he initially got his foot in the door. He said it was through a relationship with his father and a Saints legend.

“I got the internship through a family friend. My father was real good friends with (Hall of Fame former Saints linebacker) Rickey Jackson, and he saw . . . I had just graduated from college, and he was like, he asked my dad, what’s Barret doing, and he said, he’s working, looking or a job, and he said, well, since he’s doing that, I’m going to attempt to get him an internship. After that, I went to interview, and fortunately got the internship and it just grew from there. I was, you hear the stories, I was the kid who was always around, whether it was 6 o’clock in the morning or 2 o’clock in the morning. Whenever they needed me, I was there, whenever they needed me.”

A look at the cuts

16 Tuesday Sep 2014

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Every year, we at ITL like to compile the players cut by NFL teams, first from 90 to 75, then from 75 to 53 (after practice squad players have been added, of course). These are the players who are almost good enough, but not quite, and usually they’re the ones who are told they’ll be the first ones called when injuries strike.

They’re also the ones who are in most demand by other teams as well as other leagues; many of these players will show up on FXFL rosters in just a few weeks. Though these players get no press, they’re just a heartbeat away from making a 53-man roster.

The lists always tell a story about who’s in demand and who’s not in the NFL. Here are a few observations based on our list of the 716 players cut just under two weeks ago.

  •  There were 114 wide receivers cut, which is almost 20 more than any other position. This isn’t so surprising; the NFL has become a very pass-friendly league, and every team is hoping to take a flier on a player who has speed, size, or both, and could become a real difference-maker. It’s also worth noting that speedy players look the best at pro day, so teams are more likely to fall in love with them even without any real college production.
  • Second-most popular cuts were linebackers (89). Linebackers, like tight ends, are required to be super-athletic as well as sizable; I think teams are always tempted to bring in players who can run and jump but who might not have football figured out yet. Even with expanded practice squads, you can’t keep all of them.
  • It’s generally agreed that three states are the biggest hotbeds for high school football, and those numbers were borne out at cut time. California high schools produced 91, while Texas was the home state for 78 of them, and Florida bred 66 of them.
  • Three college conferences led the way as the Big Ten produced 92 players in the group, the SEC 82, and the ACC 79.
  • You’re always hearing about the small-school player who beats the odds and makes a roster, but the odds are pretty long. Five-hundred and sixty-six players (almost 80 percent) were from Division I/FBS schools, and 106 (about 15 percent) were from Division I-AA (FCS). There were 32 from Division II and just four from both Division III and the NAIA.
  • It’s interesting how quickly age catches up to you in the NFL. Of the players who populated NFL rosters up until final cuts, players from only two draft classes (2014 and 2013) had more than 100 released. No draft class since 2008 had more than 21 players represented.

Again, these are the kinds of numbers that may interest only me; analyzing the players who DIDN’T make it may make me a certifiable football nerd. Still, I find it interesting.

We’ll take an up-close look at the players who DID make it next week.