Hey Nors--Some Ty Law news!

[LaTunaNostra]

This has good idea written all over it.

Yeah, because if he can't start cutting soon, Ty has "Info-mercial King" written all over his future.

 

[Alexander]

Former Patriot Ty Law and Commanders linebacker LaVar Arrington are two of the more high-profile investors in a Ritz-Carlton resort on Turks and Caicos, an island group in the Caribbean, according to their agent, Carl Poston.

Now I feel sorry for Law.

Poston has him brainwashed.

Arrington too.

Both need a new agent very badly.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Now I feel sorry for Law.

Poston has him brainwashed.

Arrington too.

Both need a new agent very badly.

You would think that Arrington of all people would realize the need to change agents after the Postons admitted they never read the final contract.

Then again Arrington does not seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed so to speak.

 

[Charles]

You would think that Arrington of all people would realize the need to change agents after the Postons admitted they never read the final contract.

Then again Arrington does not seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed so to speak.

I remember Warren Sapp stating that LaVar nickname amongst elite players in
"Can't get Right".

He was the character in the Eddie/Martin movie Life, an innmate with exceptional baseball skills but mentally handicapped who impregnanted the Warden's daughter.

I like the idea of Ty Law Moving to Free Safety. His game is very similar Rod Woodson. A phyical CB move made the move to Safety late in his career. IF Law is healthy once training camp starts all these teams scoffing at his demands will be knocking down his door.

Right now they have the luxury of trying under cut LAw for his services, but once their players hit the field, injuries occur and poor to average play takes place Law will get his money or closer to what he expects.

When was the last time a player of Ty law caliber (when healthy) lost out in these kind of situations.

Fans always scoff and laugh but when training camp and the season comes around the coaches twitch and eventuially owners have to pony up. Ty Law will get his Postons or no Postons..............

 

[Waffle]

Yeah, because if he can't start cutting soon, Ty has "Info-mercial King" written all over his future.

Even if he is signed by someone, he'll have plenty of time (six weeks) to tape his TV spots while on the PUP list.

 

[Alexander]

You would think that Arrington of all people would realize the need to change agents after the Postons admitted they never read the final contract.

Then again Arrington does not seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed so to speak.

The unbelieveable thing is Arrington is investing in resorts down in the Caribbean with the Postons.

I do believe he suffers from brain damage.

 

[Charles]

The unbelieveable thing is Arrington is investing in resorts down in the Caribbean with the Postons.

I do believe he suffers from brain damage.

The Postons are Great business men.

They are given a bad rap by NFL teams because they are tough and savvy.

No surprise that fans will take the side of their favorite teams.

Leigh Steinbergh had the same reputation when he broke into the league and was negotiating contracts that gave the players more money in the mid eighties and early nineties.

The Postons are getting their players top dollar. If they were so bad why is their clientel rising significantly every year.

 

[Vertigo_17]

I like the idea of Ty Law Moving to Free Safety. His game is very similar Rod Woodson. A phyical CB move made the move to Safety late in his career. IF Law is healthy once training camp starts all these teams scoffing at his demands will be knocking down his door.

Right now they have the luxury of trying under cut LAw for his services, but once their players hit the field, injuries occur and poor to average play takes place Law will get his money or closer to what he expects.

When was the last time a player of Ty law caliber (when healthy) lost out in these kind of situations.

Fans always scoff and laugh but when training camp and the season comes around the coaches twitch and eventuially owners have to pony up. Ty Law will get his Postons or no Postons..............

You're probably right, assuming he's really healthy, somebody will pick him up and pay him a respectable amount of money. THere are too many injuries in the preseason. My guess is that he'll still be playing CB as I haven't heard anything about Law having any interest whatsover in playing FS. He still believes he's the best CB in the league, so why would be want to move to FS (Heck, even Pete Hunter didn't want to do it )

 

[Alexander]

The Postons are Great business men.

For themselves.

They are given a bad rap by NFL teams because they are tough and savvy.

Tough and savvy?

Try arrogant and outlandish.

No surprise that fans will take the side of their favorite teams.

Fans have the interest of their teams at heart. An agent is supposed to have their client's best interest at heart. I doubt the Postons are quite up to standard there. They are often caught with their pants down and sometimes end up hurting their clients (Orlando Pace, Arrington and Law are prime examples). Teams have learned just to tune them out. And they are losing clients, except for the intrinsically stupid ones.

Leigh Steinbergh had the same reputation when he broke into the league and was negotiating contracts that gave the players more money in the mid eighties and early nineties.

The Postons are getting their players top dollar. If they were so bad why is their clientel rising significantly every year.

They have actually lost clients like Orlando Pace. Just like Steinberg, who is basically begging for clients now, they will learn. You can butt heads sometimes but they do not know when to quit. They have a poor reputation among the majority of NFL owners and some teams want nothing to do with them.

Food for thought, Charles. This may be an old article, but since then they have lost Pace and only gained Merriman, who they are now holding out of camp:

Poston Brothers Becoming NFL Laughingstock</FONT>
By: Bob George/BosSports.net</FONT></B>
March 28, 2004</FONT>


[size=-1]Instead of waiting for Ty Law to shut up and accept things as the way they are, let's instead watch the marvelous things happening regarding Orlando Pace.

The behemoth left tackle for the Rams, and a former number one draft pick at that, is in the second year of being slapped with the franchise tag by the Rams. He wants a long-term deal and wishes to remain in St. Louis. But what is most intriguing about Pace is his recent remarks about what his agents are demanding versus what he's comfortable getting as a new deal.

At the epicenter of this whole thing are two agent brothers who are fast becoming persona non grata around the NFL. Carl and Kevin Poston, owners of Professional Sports Planning, Inc., have gained a notorious reputation for being tough and unreasonable negotiators over the years. But their shenanigans over the past two years involving six of their high profile clients may one day drive them out of the player agent business, as NFL clubs may become loath to doing business with these two men at all costs.

How bad is the work of the Postons? Law's outbursts are only the tip of the iceberg.

Pace, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is okay with a signing bonus in the $15-17 million range. But Carl Poston, Pace's agent, demanded that the Rams agree to a ludicrous deal worth $71 million over 7 years, with a $27 million signing bonus and $34 million in guaranteed money. Ram president Jay Zygmunt called this contract proposal "ransom money".

Pace wants to stay in St. Louis more than he wants the money Poston is demanding. He has come out and stated his comfort level in signing bonus. He has also stated that "there will probably be some changes in the future", a possible hint that he may fire Poston as his agent.

In this case, we are talking about arguably the best left tackle in the business. Tackles make more money than guards and centers, and Pace is a house who deserves to be paid among the highest left tackles in the NFL. But when someone of Pace's stature comes out and proclaims less money and team loyalty over a ridiculous contract offer from his agent, it makes the agent look like a total and complete buffoon.

The case of Commander linebacker LeVar Arrington is positively amazing. Arrington is claiming that he was cheated out of a $6.5 million roster bonus. The Commanders claim that no such roster bonus exists in his contract. The Postons came out and admitted that they hadn't read that part of Arrington's contract.

An anonymous NFL "insider" used the word "moron" in describing Arrington. How then would you describe the Postons for making this kind of error? Start with "negligent" and "derelict" and go on from there.

The adjective that person used to describe Arrington helps segue into an interesting analysis of Poston clients which came out recently. The article showed six of the high profile Poston clients currently involved in contract issues along with their Wonderlic test scores. The six players, Pace, Law, Arrington, Charles Woodson (Raiders), Ian Gold (Broncos) and Julian Peterson (49ers), all had an average Wonderlic score of a 15.5, which the Pro Football Weekly article said placed the players "somewhere between 'mildly autistic donkey' and 'pile of cracked bricks' on the overall intelligence scale." To top it off, Lion receiver Charles Rogers, the third pick in the 2003 draft, had a Wonderlic score of 10, which the article states "puts him in a position to outwit a handful of moist soil."

Carl Poston, who operates out of Houston, and Kevin Poston, who hangs his hat in the affluent Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, validate all this with a "creed" that Kevin wrote, a creed which does not state anything to do with sports. This "PSP Creed", mentioned in a 2003 Detroit Free Press article, has three points which men should live their lives by; they work, they stand for something, and they are loyal. The creed goes on to state that men "settle differences with words, not fists", "respect women" and they "cry not because they are babies but because they are warriors?with heart."

But the situations involving their top clients, especially Pace and Arrington, as well as the revelation over the pattern of low Wonderlic scores amongst these same clients, make this creed a total sham which rings completely hollow. The prototypical Poston client is being portrayed as a greedy and idiotic hothead. The Postons are using these clients to make themselves wealthier than they deserve, under the guise of "proud warriors who aren't afraid to stand up for what they believe in".

Pace's stand on his contract issue will perhaps signal the beginning of the end of the wave of terror that is the Postons. If these duped clients can wake up and smell the coffee and figure out what these agents are really all about, they will join Pace and dump these guys on their ears. And if NFL executives can avoid panic and exercise restraint in capitulating to these outrageous demands these brothers make, the Postons will then attain blackball status from the NFL. This might then dissuade these sorts of clients from signing on with them. It would then help drive away the Postons from the NFL, and eventually out of the sports agent business.

It is the job of the sports agent to act in the best interest of his clients. It naturally follows that the agent wants to broker the best deal possible for his client. But when Pace comes out and states that he will take a lot less money to stay put with the Rams, and then obliquely states that he wants to fire his agent, Pace is stating that his agent did not properly serve himself the client, and the Postons have a ton of egg on their faces. And when Arrington is gypped out of $6.5 million because the Postons didn't read the whole contract, the Postons put a dunce cap right on top of all those yellow yolks.

Michael Holley of the Globe recently wondered aloud about why Law's friends don't step up and try to gag him. Maybe Law's only real buddy is telling Law to continue to blab and blab lots, because Law will be cut in September just like his buddy was in 2003 and he needs to try to get traded or released before that eventuality takes place. Is Lawyer Milloy advising Law to keep flapping his yap? There's no reason to think otherwise.

Sparing redundancy, this column did a piece recently on what top players in the league reveal themselves to be sooner or later. They are either rings-oriented or rewards-oriented. The Postons continue to try and extort obscene amounts of money for their clients, all the while ignoring that these obscene contracts make their clients rich but severely cripple their team in trying to acquire other talented players who will help that team vie for a Super Bowl championship. The Postons don't want players in their stable who are committed to winning. They want players in their stable who are committed to making the Postons obscenely rich, and are possibly too stupid to understand that the big money they are demanding is detrimental to the team as a whole.

The NFL looks like it is finally wising up to these two brothers and may begin shunning their clients unilaterally. While the complete eradication of these brothers is perhaps still a dream and, if it happens, would be a few years off in the distance, the statements by Pace and the dereliction of Arrington's contract are at least opening salvos in the eventual destruction of the Poston empire. To further illustrate this sort of thing, there is the chance that the Patriots might not pursue trading up for Oregon State running back Steven Jackson if he had retained the Postons as his agents (late word says that Jackson has rejected the Postons). If other teams follow suit, the Postons might actually have to stand up and take notice. This piece was not meant as a plug for the Patriots and their way of doing things. It is simply about the advancement of good agents who will really do well by their clients, and for the cleansing of those agents who stand for the opposite. It might not put Law in his place, but in the long run it might mean that we never see the next Law again.
--------------

[/size]
Teams, like us, have blackballed both them and their clients, thankfully.

Coach Parcells despises them and with good reason.

 

[Charles]

You're probably right, assuming he's really healthy, somebody will pick him up and pay him a respectable amount of money. THere are too many injuries in the preseason. My guess is that he'll still be playing CB as I haven't heard anything about Law having any interest whatsover in playing FS. He still believes he's the best CB in the league, so why would be want to move to FS (Heck, even Pete Hunter didn't want to do it )

Totally agree, but I also haven't heard Ty rule out the possibility of playing Free Safety.

I'll just assume that Law won't rule out playing Free Safety because of the new rules plus loss in speed due to injuries and age.

 

[Charles]

For themselves.



Tough and savvy?

Try arrogant and outlandish.



Fans have the interest of their teams at heart. An agent is supposed to have their client's best interest at heart. I doubt the Postons are quite up to standard there. They are often caught with their pants down and sometimes end up hurting their clients (Orlando Pace, Arrington and Law are prime examples). Teams have learned just to tune them out. And they are losing clients, except for the intrinsically stupid ones.



They have actually lost clients like Orlando Pace. Just like Steinberg, who is basically begging for clients now, they will learn. You can butt heads sometimes but they do not know when to quit. They have a poor reputation among the majority of NFL owners and some teams want nothing to do with them.

Food for thought, Charles. This may be an old article, but since then they have lost Pace and only gained Merriman, who they are now holding out of camp:

Poston Brothers Becoming NFL Laughingstock</FONT>
By: Bob George/BosSports.net</FONT></B>
March 28, 2004</FONT>


[size=-1]Instead of waiting for Ty Law to shut up and accept things as the way they are, let's instead watch the marvelous things happening regarding Orlando Pace.

The behemoth left tackle for the Rams, and a former number one draft pick at that, is in the second year of being slapped with the franchise tag by the Rams. He wants a long-term deal and wishes to remain in St. Louis. But what is most intriguing about Pace is his recent remarks about what his agents are demanding versus what he's comfortable getting as a new deal.

At the epicenter of this whole thing are two agent brothers who are fast becoming persona non grata around the NFL. Carl and Kevin Poston, owners of Professional Sports Planning, Inc., have gained a notorious reputation for being tough and unreasonable negotiators over the years. But their shenanigans over the past two years involving six of their high profile clients may one day drive them out of the player agent business, as NFL clubs may become loath to doing business with these two men at all costs.

How bad is the work of the Postons? Law's outbursts are only the tip of the iceberg.

Pace, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is okay with a signing bonus in the $15-17 million range. But Carl Poston, Pace's agent, demanded that the Rams agree to a ludicrous deal worth $71 million over 7 years, with a $27 million signing bonus and $34 million in guaranteed money. Ram president Jay Zygmunt called this contract proposal "ransom money".

Pace wants to stay in St. Louis more than he wants the money Poston is demanding. He has come out and stated his comfort level in signing bonus. He has also stated that "there will probably be some changes in the future", a possible hint that he may fire Poston as his agent.

In this case, we are talking about arguably the best left tackle in the business. Tackles make more money than guards and centers, and Pace is a house who deserves to be paid among the highest left tackles in the NFL. But when someone of Pace's stature comes out and proclaims less money and team loyalty over a ridiculous contract offer from his agent, it makes the agent look like a total and complete buffoon.

The case of Commander linebacker LeVar Arrington is positively amazing. Arrington is claiming that he was cheated out of a $6.5 million roster bonus. The Commanders claim that no such roster bonus exists in his contract. The Postons came out and admitted that they hadn't read that part of Arrington's contract.

An anonymous NFL "insider" used the word "moron" in describing Arrington. How then would you describe the Postons for making this kind of error? Start with "negligent" and "derelict" and go on from there.

The adjective that person used to describe Arrington helps segue into an interesting analysis of Poston clients which came out recently. The article showed six of the high profile Poston clients currently involved in contract issues along with their Wonderlic test scores. The six players, Pace, Law, Arrington, Charles Woodson (Raiders), Ian Gold (Broncos) and Julian Peterson (49ers), all had an average Wonderlic score of a 15.5, which the Pro Football Weekly article said placed the players "somewhere between 'mildly autistic donkey' and 'pile of cracked bricks' on the overall intelligence scale." To top it off, Lion receiver Charles Rogers, the third pick in the 2003 draft, had a Wonderlic score of 10, which the article states "puts him in a position to outwit a handful of moist soil."

Carl Poston, who operates out of Houston, and Kevin Poston, who hangs his hat in the affluent Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, validate all this with a "creed" that Kevin wrote, a creed which does not state anything to do with sports. This "PSP Creed", mentioned in a 2003 Detroit Free Press article, has three points which men should live their lives by; they work, they stand for something, and they are loyal. The creed goes on to state that men "settle differences with words, not fists", "respect women" and they "cry not because they are babies but because they are warriors?with heart."

But the situations involving their top clients, especially Pace and Arrington, as well as the revelation over the pattern of low Wonderlic scores amongst these same clients, make this creed a total sham which rings completely hollow. The prototypical Poston client is being portrayed as a greedy and idiotic hothead. The Postons are using these clients to make themselves wealthier than they deserve, under the guise of "proud warriors who aren't afraid to stand up for what they believe in".

Pace's stand on his contract issue will perhaps signal the beginning of the end of the wave of terror that is the Postons. If these duped clients can wake up and smell the coffee and figure out what these agents are really all about, they will join Pace and dump these guys on their ears. And if NFL executives can avoid panic and exercise restraint in capitulating to these outrageous demands these brothers make, the Postons will then attain blackball status from the NFL. This might then dissuade these sorts of clients from signing on with them. It would then help drive away the Postons from the NFL, and eventually out of the sports agent business.

It is the job of the sports agent to act in the best interest of his clients. It naturally follows that the agent wants to broker the best deal possible for his client. But when Pace comes out and states that he will take a lot less money to stay put with the Rams, and then obliquely states that he wants to fire his agent, Pace is stating that his agent did not properly serve himself the client, and the Postons have a ton of egg on their faces. And when Arrington is gypped out of $6.5 million because the Postons didn't read the whole contract, the Postons put a dunce cap right on top of all those yellow yolks.

Michael Holley of the Globe recently wondered aloud about why Law's friends don't step up and try to gag him. Maybe Law's only real buddy is telling Law to continue to blab and blab lots, because Law will be cut in September just like his buddy was in 2003 and he needs to try to get traded or released before that eventuality takes place. Is Lawyer Milloy advising Law to keep flapping his yap? There's no reason to think otherwise.

Sparing redundancy, this column did a piece recently on what top players in the league reveal themselves to be sooner or later. They are either rings-oriented or rewards-oriented. The Postons continue to try and extort obscene amounts of money for their clients, all the while ignoring that these obscene contracts make their clients rich but severely cripple their team in trying to acquire other talented players who will help that team vie for a Super Bowl championship. The Postons don't want players in their stable who are committed to winning. They want players in their stable who are committed to making the Postons obscenely rich, and are possibly too stupid to understand that the big money they are demanding is detrimental to the team as a whole.

The NFL looks like it is finally wising up to these two brothers and may begin shunning their clients unilaterally. While the complete eradication of these brothers is perhaps still a dream and, if it happens, would be a few years off in the distance, the statements by Pace and the dereliction of Arrington's contract are at least opening salvos in the eventual destruction of the Poston empire. To further illustrate this sort of thing, there is the chance that the Patriots might not pursue trading up for Oregon State running back Steven Jackson if he had retained the Postons as his agents (late word says that Jackson has rejected the Postons). If other teams follow suit, the Postons might actually have to stand up and take notice. This piece was not meant as a plug for the Patriots and their way of doing things. It is simply about the advancement of good agents who will really do well by their clients, and for the cleansing of those agents who stand for the opposite. It might not put Law in his place, but in the long run it might mean that we never see the next Law again.
--------------

[/size]
Teams, like us, have blackballed both them and their clients, thankfully.

Coach Parcells despises them and with good reason.

Thanks for proving my point. The NFL and the media will do anything to bury the Postons who are changing the status Quo by getting their players True market Value.

The Postons brothers are the listed as the 64th and 65th most influential minorities in Sports. That is a lofty status for Sports Agents.

So am not surprised that a mediot would go along way to defend the golden cow that is the NFL.

Liegh Steinbergh got a bad rap, but guys like Troy Aikman laughed all the way to the bank, Givng other young, up and coming QBs their true market value. Agents come and go, but guys like the Postons and Steinbergh leave marks that affect genenrations down the road.

 

[Alexander]

Thanks for proving my point. The NFL and the media will do anything to bury the Postons who are changing the status Quo by getting their players True market Value.

How did it prove your point?

The Postons are just sleazebag agents who prey on the simple minded and
end up costing their clients in the long run.

The media does not have to bury them. Their negotiating style does that for them.

Thank goodness we don't have to deal with them.

 

[Charles]

How did it prove your point?

The Postons are just sleazebag agents who prey on the simple minded and
end up costing their clients in the long run.

The media does not have to bury them. Their negotiating style does that for them.

Thank goodness we don't have to deal with them.

Thanks for proving my point. The NFL and the media will do anything to bury the Postons who are changing the status Quo by getting their players True market Value.

The Postons brothers are the listed as the 64th and 65th most influential minorities in Sports. That is a lofty status for Sports Agents.

I am not surprised that a mediot would go along way to defend the golden cow that is the NFL.

Leigh Steinbergh got a bad rap, but guys like Troy Aikman laughed all the way to the bank, Giving other young, up and coming QBs their true market value. Agents come and go, but guys like the Postons and Steinbergh leave marks that affect generations down the road.

Maybe if you took your head out the cloud being spun by the mediots and the NFL you'll see that as time goes by the NFL will make more money thus their products will demand more money for their services.

Billionares and mediots whining...........whom most fans side with.........

Millionaires/players who risk their lively hood every Sunday and agents who push the envelope get a bad rap.

Look past the fluff.

 

[Alexander]

Look past the fluff.

You mean the fluff like them getting dumped by Pace and pricing some of their clients like Law out of the market? Or the fact that they only clients they have right now are dimwitted thugs like Arrington, Merriman and Kellen Winslow.

Their heyday was years ago.

And I don't quite follow the Steinberg comparisons. I would bet if you took a poll of NFL owners and GMs, the Postons are not nearly as respected.

 

[Charles]

You mean the fluff like them getting dumped by Pace and pricing some of their clients like Law out of the market? Or the fact that they only clients they have right now are dimwitted thugs like Arrington, Merriman and Kellen Winslow.

Their heyday was years ago.

And I don't quite follow the Steinberg comparisons. I would bet if you took a poll of NFL owners and GMs, the Postons are not nearly as respected.

Of course they are not going to be respected, because they are taking and asking for more MONEY :laugh2: .

If there hey day was years ago why are the still signing 1st RD picks..........

It appears you are thinking about this issue from football vantage point. Business is ugly, especially when you try yo change the status quo. It appears you are lacking in knowledge of exactly why the Postons are being given a bad rap. Please read the following article from a reputable business source.

I'll find another newsweek and times article about the Postons that sheds light on why the NFL and their shwo ponies (media) don't like their direction




http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_39/b3901094.htm

Agents Who Play As Rough As Linebackers

The controversial Poston brothers are rewriting the rules on NFL salaries


In his suburban Detroit home, sports agent Kevin D. Poston displays a gallery of family photos dating back to the days when his ancestors were slaves. One of his favorites is a picture of his great-grandfather Zachary Taylor Winston, who was born into slavery and rose to become a businessman and property owner. "He couldn't write," Poston says. "He signed his name with an X."

These days, Kevin and his brother Carl C. Poston III get their star-athlete clients to sign next to the X -- and in the process score some of the richest contracts ever seen in professional football. The brothers are partners in Professional Sports Planning Inc. (PSP), which negotiates deals for more than 40 players, mostly National Football League stars. Their clients include Kellen Winslow Jr. of the Cleveland Browns, Charles Woodson of the Oakland Raiders, and Charles Rogers of the Detroit Lions.

SWEET PACKAGES

Few sports agents make life as expensive -- or as uncomfortable -- for the NFL as the Postons do. To get their way, the Postons play rougher than a blitzing linebacker. They want nothing less than to tear down the NFL's feudal salary system. The brash brothers typically represent linemen, defensive backs, and other players who traditionally have earned far less than star quarterbacks. When quarterback Peyton Manning (not their client) of the Indianapolis Colts nabbed a seven-year $98 million contract this year, with a smashing $34.5 million signing bonus, the Postons started making noise about getting "fair market value" for less visible players.

Sometimes they don't do too badly. This season, for example, PSP negotiated a six-year $40 million deal, including a $16.5 million signing bonus, for tight end Winslow, the No. 6 pick in the NFL draft. That's a sweeter package than three of the players drafted before Winslow were able to land. But their tactics also can backfire: According to the NFL Players Assn., they recently got dropped by a key client, tackle Orlando Pace. This was the second year running that the Postons failed to negotiate a long-term deal for Pace. The brothers -- who as BusinessWeek went to press said Pace hadn't yet told them he was leaving -- are said to have demanded $71 million from his team, the St. Louis Rams, leading to a standoff. They also failed to negotiate record contracts for two other marquee players, the Raiders' Woodson and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Julian Peterson. When those teams balked at the Poston proposals, the brothers held the players back from preseason training camps. The Postons won't say how much they were demanding, but NFL insiders say they asked for "Manning money."

Hogwash, says Kevin, 45, who works from his home in Farmington Hills, Mich., outside Detroit, a time zone away from Carl's office in Houston. "I never said: 'Give me Peyton Manning money.' I did say Julian was the quarterback of that defense," he says. In the end, the agents failed to reach midfield with Woodson and Peterson. They eventually slinked back to work, just in time for the season to start, after being saddled with "franchise tag" status. As such, they'll be paid the average salary of the top five at their position. It's not a bad consolation prize -- $8.8 million for a year's work, in Woodson's case -- but the Postons are still trying to negotiate long-term contracts.

TOO CONFRONTATIONAL?

The acrimonious summer fed the growing perception in the NFL that the Postons consider no salary demand too stratospheric. "Their style is almost a take-no-prisoners approach," says Kenneth L. Shropshire, director of the Wharton School's Sports Business Initiative. Shropshire, an adviser to the family of Poston client Winslow, thinks that can work to a client's advantage. But other agents accuse the Postons of being needlessly confrontational. And NFL execs -- many of whom declined to talk about the Postons -- now avoid players represented by the controversial agents, insiders say. Many believe that "Poston fatigue" was a factor in the Washington Commanders' decision to pass on Winslow. The team won't comment.

The Postons can shrug off the criticism. Their firm usually takes a 3% share of each deal its players sign, earning them millions in fees. They've come a long way, especially since they got into the business serendipitously. Carl was practicing law in Houston in 1989 when a friend referred a Houston Oilers football player who had a tax problem. At about the same time, Kevin, also a lawyer, was working on financing for a new basketball arena outside Detroit. They decided to try their hands as agents, printed up a brochure, and began a tour of NFL tryouts, college stadiums, and the living rooms of prospects such as defensive back Terrell Buckley, their first star client.

The brothers never doubted their competence, having acquired a sense of confidence as children in Saginaw, Mich. Unlike many of their friends, the Postons grew up valuing education and business ownership. Their father, Carl Poston Jr., now 81, was a lawyer and one of the first blacks on the Saginaw City Council. His wife, Thelma, 74, was the first black to earn a real estate license in the Saginaw area, say Kevin and Carl.

For the most part, the Postons inspire intense loyalty among clients. Pace apparently got restless. But others look to them as older brothers and seek their advice about everything from girlfriends to cars. Carl's cell phone rings nonstop with calls from players checking in. "You're getting a haircut? Nice life," chides Carl when Woodson calls. A few minutes later he is joking with defensive back Ty Law. "I can talk to Carl and Kevin about issues in my life," Law says. "They're like my family."

Still, controversy dogs the Postons with each new deal. Commanders star linebacker LaVar Arrington, another client, is ensnared in an arbitration over whether the team negotiated one contract and then -- unbeknownst to Carl, he says -- slipped Arrington another to sign, minus a $6.5 million bonus. "If the agent admits he didn't read the contract, that's worrisome," says one player rep who asked not to be named. Carl says he's confident that Arrington will prevail in the arbitration. Arrington stands by the Postons.

Then there's the race question: All of the Postons' clients are African American, leading some Poston-bashers to speculate that PSP prefers to represent only blacks. Such talk mostly amuses the Postons. "We'd love to represent [white stars] Peyton Manning and Zach Thomas," says Carl, 49. "We don't get the time of day from white players and their families."

Even so, the Poston empire continues to expand. This year PSP added two first-round draft picks: Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Reggie Williams and Chris Gamble of the Carolina Panthers. In a field where success is measured in greenbacks, it seems no amount of controversy will stop these brothers from reaching the end zone.


By Mark Hyman in Houston

 

[LaTunaNostra]

The Postons brothers are the listed as the 64th and 65th most influential minorities in Sports. That is a lofty status for Sports Agents.

That's depressing, because if these two charlatans are that high on any 'influential' list, then it might be time to re-evaluate just how far 'minorities' have progressed in the sports world after all.

Successful agents are usually hated, mostly by fans...by some owners/GMs, and by jealous colleagues....witness that Roshenaus story last week in which agents Drew had upped were crying "foul".

So the Postons will get their share of flack. They admitted they set out to climb to the top of the agent pool fast with one promise/tactic..to promise their clients they would get them the TOP contract at their position. This is a strong marketing tool, and a few early successes (tho I can't recall off hand who they even were) reportedly sent them considerable business, including lawyer Milloy, who got punked, an Ty Law, who is in the process.

You win a few, you lose a few, and if players like Milloy and Law want to fire their agents because a show down is coming, and they want the most aggressive, in your face representation there is, that's one strategy, and a risk that might be worth taking.

IF the agents are as competent as they are combative.

These two appear to be inept, and that Arrington case, in which one of them initialed pages he didn't even read, by all rights should have ended their careers. Hire some help to read the contract if you don't have time.

Morons.

Seriously, that level of incompetence should have scared anyone off.

A rundown of who the Postons represent and who has "made out" would be revealing. And I think what would be revealed is after an initial few successes,a long trail of Milloys, Arringtons, and lesser lights who got screwed.

 

[silver]

Their clients include Kellen Winslow Jr. of the Cleveland Browns, Charles Woodson of the Oakland Raiders, and Charles Rogers of the Detroit Lions.

The Postons are like the kiss of death. all of these guys were lost to injury at one point or another. Winslow and Rogers are close to being considered busts. Maybe is just a damned coincidence

 

[Charles]

That's depressing, because if these two charlatans are that high on any 'influential' list, then it might be time to re-evaluate just how far 'minorities' have progressed in the sports world after all.

Successful agents are usually hated, mostly by fans...by some owners/GMs, and by jealous colleagues....witness that Roshenaus story last week in which agents Drew had upped were crying "foul".

So the Postons will get their share of flack. They admitted they set out to climb to the top of the agent pool fast with one promise/tactic..to promise their clients they would get them the TOP contract at their position. This is a strong marketing tool, and a few early successes (tho I can't recall off hand who they even were) reportedly sent them considerable business, including lawyer Milloy, who got punked, an Ty Law, who is in the process.

You win a few, you lose a few, and if players like Milloy and Law want to fire their agents because a show down is coming, and they want the most aggressive, in your face representation there is, that's one strategy, and a risk that might be worth taking.

IF the agents are as competent as they are combative.

These two appear to be inept, and that Arrington case, in which one of them initialed pages he didn't even read, by all rights should have ended their careers. Hire some help to read the contract if you don't have time.

Morons.

Seriously, that level of incompetence should have scared anyone off.

A rundown of who the Postons represent and who has "made out" would be revealing. And I think what would be revealed is after an initial few successes,a long trail of Milloys, Arringtons, and lesser lights who got screwed.

That's their side of the story

It is LaVar and his agents contention that the Danny/ Skins switched the contracts that the Postons had negotiated. See the article above. If it was incompetence then why are they having arbitrations.

I believe those who make this list know more about Influential minnorities than either of us. Therefore it's your opinion versus that of a reputable agency. We are all entitled.

 

[Alexander]

These two appear to be inept, and that Arrington case, in which one of them initialed pages he didn't even read, by all rights should have ended their careers. Hire some help to read the contract if you don't have time.

Arrington apparently is quite dense. At least Pace had the good sense to dump them and get a contract done with the Rams.

A rundown of who the Postons represent and who has "made out" would be revealing. And I think what would be revealed is after an initial few successes,a long trail of Milloys, Arringtons, and lesser lights who got screwed.

I see the Postons promising riches, but where is the proof? What players just "laughed to the bank"? Where is their Tim McDonald, who was a poster child for Steinberg's prowess?

I hope I am not stating something that is sensitive, but has it ever occurred to anyone that the Postons, due to their "influential minority" status appeal to the thug element? They are brash and flashy and sometimes that culture is impressed by that type of behavior.

 

[Alexander]

That's their side of the story

It is LaVar and his agents contention that the Danny/ Skins switched the contracts that the Postons had negotiated. See the article above. If it was incompetence then why are they having arbitrations.

I believe those who make this list know more about Influential minnorities than either of us. Therefore it's your opinion versus that of a reputable agency. We are all entitled.

The Postons have also been reprimanded by the NFLPA for not acting in the best interest of their clients.