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[SIZE=+1]Job looks glamorous, but it's much more than 'show me the money'
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]02:13 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 12, 2006
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News [/SIZE]
IRVING – To some, they are a caricature. They have slick hair to go with their slick attitude.
Movies like Jerry Maguire and television shows like HBO's Arli$$ made the sports agent business boom so much that Spike ran an American Idol-like show called Super Agent, a reality show that ended with a player whittling down contestants and picking an agent.
Three percent, the general fee an agent charges per player, of a multimillion contract can be an enticing entry into the sports world.
Jordan Woy, a Dallas-based agent who has represented athletes since 1988, has run several classes for the MBA program at the University of Texas-Dallas.
"A lot of them just think it's just fun and think you just go out and negotiate contracts," Woy said. "I try to give them the reality of how tough a business it is and how competitive it is."
The spotlight – good and bad – follows several agents, like Drew Rosenhaus, who has almost 90 clients, including Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens.
Major Adams, who represents UT quarterback Vince Young, recently was questioned and mocked by some in his profession after a series of events involving his client.
Adams had Young, considered a top-five draft pick, compete in a made-for-TV skills competition. He first said Young would work out at the NFL Scouting Combine then reneged on it. And, finally, there was the reported low score on the Wonderlic Test.
It can be a harsh business, built more on flash than substance. Roughly 1,300 agents are registered with the NFL Players Association, according to spokesman Carl Francis, to represent about 1,800 players.
"Everybody's got their own spiel, and some guys drive fancier cars and have fancier suits and talk faster," said Pat Dye Jr., who runs Atlanta-based ProFiles Sports Management and counts the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware as a client.
While each agent has differing job styles, there are similarities that run throughout the agent community as it relates to the upcoming draft. After an agent signs a prospect, they have one job.
"We prepare our players and we leave no stone unturned," said Neil Schwartz, an agent since 1991. "We try to prepare them for every what-if."
The biggest change in preparing a player for the draft starts with specific combine training at facilities all over the country.
Schwartz and his partner, Jonathan Feinsod, send clients to Fischer Sports in Phoenix, as do Kennard McGuire and Fletcher Smith of CSMG Sports. Dye sends his players to facilities closer to a player's school – Ware trained in Montgomery, Ala., while finishing school at Troy University.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/04-06/0412agent.jpg
AP Sports agent Drew Rosenhaus (right), representing Terrell Owens, has almost 90 clients.
The cost can run between $10,000 and $20,000 per player when factoring training, housing, leasing a car and food. If their client is not chosen in the first three rounds, an agent could lose money.
Largely, agents do their share of networking throughout the NFL to make sure teams know about their players.
Starting at the January all-star games, such as the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., agents will spend time talking to coaches, scouts, general managers and personnel directors, finding out where their clients need improvement. When the combine rolls around in February, agents repeat the process. They do it one more time at the player's on-campus workout.
Dye has an advantage over some agents because his father, Pat Dye Sr., was a college football coach for almost 30 years, spending 12 years at Auburn. His 19-year record of 153-62-5 helped him into the College Football Hall of Fame.
"I know that only gets me so far, but the ability to get the decision-makers on the phone, it's a huge advantage," Dye said. "I use that to the best of my ability without abusing it."
By the time last year's draft came around, Dye knew Ware would be selected between the 10th and 15th pick in the first round. He went to the Cowboys at No. 10.
Ware said he interviewed more than 30 agents before choosing Dye. It helped that Troy's head coach, Larry Blakeney, was an assistant for Dye's father.
"Everybody else was money, money, money and what kind of car they could get me," Ware said. "I just thought it was a critical decision to make, and he had my values and my best interest at heart. That's why I chose Pat."
But there's more than the football side. There's money to be made in marketing, from player appearances to autograph shows to endorsements.
"How many football players have been on Sesame Street?" said Schwartz, who represents former NFL and Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis, who hung out with Big Bird and Oscar as a player with Denver. "You want to be creative."
Southern Cal running back Reggie Bush already has a deal with Subway Restaurants and is close to a deal with Adidas. He could earn millions off the field before he even steps on it.
But there are not many Reggie Bushes, and that's where experience can make a difference.
"What happens is people think it is 100 percent glamour," McGuire said. "Actually it's 95 percent work and 5 percent glamour. But it is gratifying work knowing that you played a part in changing someone's life."
E-mail tarcher@***BANNED-URL***
REPRESENTING MORE THAN YOU THINK
Being a football agent is more than opening a line of credit for a player or driving a fancy car. Here's what you need to get started, according to the NFL Players Association:
•A nonrefundable application fee of $1,650.
•Have undergraduate and post-graduate degrees from accredited university/college.
•Most states require agents to register and/or pay a fee to represent players from that state.
•Purchase malpractice insurance of at least $2,500 for new applicants.
•Pass open-book, multiple- choice test about negotiating and the NFL salary cap.
•Pay the cost of a player's training ($10,000-$20,000).
•Must represent at least one player over three-year period or repeat application process.
LINK
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]02:13 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 12, 2006
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News [/SIZE]
IRVING – To some, they are a caricature. They have slick hair to go with their slick attitude.
Movies like Jerry Maguire and television shows like HBO's Arli$$ made the sports agent business boom so much that Spike ran an American Idol-like show called Super Agent, a reality show that ended with a player whittling down contestants and picking an agent.
Three percent, the general fee an agent charges per player, of a multimillion contract can be an enticing entry into the sports world.
Jordan Woy, a Dallas-based agent who has represented athletes since 1988, has run several classes for the MBA program at the University of Texas-Dallas.
"A lot of them just think it's just fun and think you just go out and negotiate contracts," Woy said. "I try to give them the reality of how tough a business it is and how competitive it is."
The spotlight – good and bad – follows several agents, like Drew Rosenhaus, who has almost 90 clients, including Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens.
Major Adams, who represents UT quarterback Vince Young, recently was questioned and mocked by some in his profession after a series of events involving his client.
Adams had Young, considered a top-five draft pick, compete in a made-for-TV skills competition. He first said Young would work out at the NFL Scouting Combine then reneged on it. And, finally, there was the reported low score on the Wonderlic Test.
It can be a harsh business, built more on flash than substance. Roughly 1,300 agents are registered with the NFL Players Association, according to spokesman Carl Francis, to represent about 1,800 players.
"Everybody's got their own spiel, and some guys drive fancier cars and have fancier suits and talk faster," said Pat Dye Jr., who runs Atlanta-based ProFiles Sports Management and counts the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware as a client.
While each agent has differing job styles, there are similarities that run throughout the agent community as it relates to the upcoming draft. After an agent signs a prospect, they have one job.
"We prepare our players and we leave no stone unturned," said Neil Schwartz, an agent since 1991. "We try to prepare them for every what-if."
The biggest change in preparing a player for the draft starts with specific combine training at facilities all over the country.
Schwartz and his partner, Jonathan Feinsod, send clients to Fischer Sports in Phoenix, as do Kennard McGuire and Fletcher Smith of CSMG Sports. Dye sends his players to facilities closer to a player's school – Ware trained in Montgomery, Ala., while finishing school at Troy University.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/04-06/0412agent.jpg
AP Sports agent Drew Rosenhaus (right), representing Terrell Owens, has almost 90 clients.
The cost can run between $10,000 and $20,000 per player when factoring training, housing, leasing a car and food. If their client is not chosen in the first three rounds, an agent could lose money.
Largely, agents do their share of networking throughout the NFL to make sure teams know about their players.
Starting at the January all-star games, such as the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., agents will spend time talking to coaches, scouts, general managers and personnel directors, finding out where their clients need improvement. When the combine rolls around in February, agents repeat the process. They do it one more time at the player's on-campus workout.
Dye has an advantage over some agents because his father, Pat Dye Sr., was a college football coach for almost 30 years, spending 12 years at Auburn. His 19-year record of 153-62-5 helped him into the College Football Hall of Fame.
"I know that only gets me so far, but the ability to get the decision-makers on the phone, it's a huge advantage," Dye said. "I use that to the best of my ability without abusing it."
By the time last year's draft came around, Dye knew Ware would be selected between the 10th and 15th pick in the first round. He went to the Cowboys at No. 10.
Ware said he interviewed more than 30 agents before choosing Dye. It helped that Troy's head coach, Larry Blakeney, was an assistant for Dye's father.
"Everybody else was money, money, money and what kind of car they could get me," Ware said. "I just thought it was a critical decision to make, and he had my values and my best interest at heart. That's why I chose Pat."
But there's more than the football side. There's money to be made in marketing, from player appearances to autograph shows to endorsements.
"How many football players have been on Sesame Street?" said Schwartz, who represents former NFL and Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis, who hung out with Big Bird and Oscar as a player with Denver. "You want to be creative."
Southern Cal running back Reggie Bush already has a deal with Subway Restaurants and is close to a deal with Adidas. He could earn millions off the field before he even steps on it.
But there are not many Reggie Bushes, and that's where experience can make a difference.
"What happens is people think it is 100 percent glamour," McGuire said. "Actually it's 95 percent work and 5 percent glamour. But it is gratifying work knowing that you played a part in changing someone's life."
E-mail tarcher@***BANNED-URL***
REPRESENTING MORE THAN YOU THINK
Being a football agent is more than opening a line of credit for a player or driving a fancy car. Here's what you need to get started, according to the NFL Players Association:
•A nonrefundable application fee of $1,650.
•Have undergraduate and post-graduate degrees from accredited university/college.
•Most states require agents to register and/or pay a fee to represent players from that state.
•Purchase malpractice insurance of at least $2,500 for new applicants.
•Pass open-book, multiple- choice test about negotiating and the NFL salary cap.
•Pay the cost of a player's training ($10,000-$20,000).
•Must represent at least one player over three-year period or repeat application process.
LINK
