Published April 28, 2008 : Page 75The Ricky Williams contract

In 1999, the industry was buzzing about one of the worst contracts ever crafted for an elite athlete: the rookie deal for New Orleans Saints running back Ricky Williams, negotiated by Leland Hardy of No Limit Sports, the upstart firm owned by rapper Master P. The incentive-laden, eight-year deal was worth as little as $11.6 million and as much as $68.5 million. The problem? Williams would have to be one of the best running backs in NFL history to collect the full value of the contract. In 2003, Williams fired No Limit and signed with veteran NFL agent Leigh Steinberg.

Disclaimer: I am a Sports marketing specialist who has a separate Sports Risk Management practice . I will be moving into representing players in about 18 months. Because I am biased to “alternate” forms of income for my clients incentive laden contracts should be the norm to me.

Back on post—- Data I am referring to would be information from independent sources outside of our industry. In our industry, the “big boys” think that Heisman Trophy winners should lay down at their feet. They don’t like a “new jack” coming in and changing the rules. So they will discredit a newby because they are SORE LOSERS. Most competitors are.

There is a new generation of agents that are HUNGRY but not GLUTTONOUS.
Here we come……

PS..Steinberg cares about concussions because his clients were prone to it. He had a QB client on every roster one year! He even had all 3 QB’s at Pittsburgh(Kordell’s 4th year I believe). He has never been vilfied like Leland ..never called greedy as an indvidual agent….The media refers to the “agent industry” as being greedy when they talk about some and vilify the Carl Postons and Bill Duffy’s. Food for thought.
If you wanna discuss 901-351-8752 or see me on LINKED IN

again Darren –Keep up the good work man

Eric Carter

Louis – I was cutting and pasting the article to show what Edge made his rookie year as compared to Ricky.
The contract got worse after Ricky’s rookie year.

Guys – Call up any agent that was working in the late 90′s and they will tell you it was one of the worst deals of all time. I believe the NLFPA actually looked into the deal because it was so bad. In addition, for any agent or want to be agent to read that Leland blames the media for their down fall is laughable. Boras and Rosenhaus are vilified in the media all the time and still retain and land top players every year.

Many questions are repeatedly asked on this blog – How do I get into this industry??? Having a ton of cash – Which No Limits had. – Connection to a top player which they had. And they blew it with that contract.

I have no axe to grind with Leland. If anything, this article and sudsequent post should be looked at as a learning tool.

thanks
wally

Jen Thomas
Muvar Software

Incidentally, I don’t hide behind phony names like the readers of your blog who ganged up on you. My name is Louis Penn and I’m a rabid Eagles fan.

Next
@Wally
Explain to me how he implied that ALL agents were racists. We would be foolish to think that what he says to applies to everyone but we would be cowards if we denied it ever happens. If you think it was a bad deal and your name happens to Ricky Williams then you definiely have a right to say this guy is a joke.
(If you are Ricky-Man stay off the sauce!)
Otherwise give me the statistical data that disputes what he says. Some of the same talking heads he spoke always lament how “certain” athletes don’t have “heart”, “work ethic”, and “moxey” but crucified this guy for having his player EARN his money.
In short, we are paid to represent our clients interests contractually but we need to represent them beyond what we are getting.

I agree with -insidetheleague.com- thanks for the follow up question to leland.

- wally

Also, very unprofessional for Leland to basically imply that all agents are racists.
What is also very funny is that No Limit and Leland did not even do Ricky’s marketing. They farmed that out to the so called ‘old guard’ of the business.

Also should have been asked, ‘Was this same media that gave you 11 minutes of promotion on OTL?

New Orleans Saints running back, Ricky Williams terminated his relationship with controversial agent Leland Hardy of No Limit Sports and retained Leigh Steinberg as his new agent. Hardy negotiated a now-infamous rookie contract for Williams, which was long on incentives clauses, but short on base salary.

Williams’ contract with the Saints contained an $8.8 million singing bonus, with the remainder of the $68.4 million deal based mostly on incentives [click here]. Due to injuries and overall poor team play, Williams reached only one of his incentives and collected just $3.8 million in his rookie year. Most of the incentives in Williams’ deal are triggered upon reaching 1,600 rushing yards in a season, a very high standard.

Williams become one of several professional athletes to recently sever ties with No Limit Sports, the athletic representation agency created by rapper Master P. [click here]

Alternative Approach

Steinberg also represents Edgerrin James, the Indianapolis Colts running back chosen prior to Williams in last year’s NFL draft. Steinberg negotiated a more attainable, staggered incentive based contract for James, which allowed the rookie to collect $14.8 million last season. Williams and Steinberg are not strangers, as previously Jeff Moorad, an associate of Steinberg, represented Williams while under a minor-league baseball contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Steinberg often renegotiates his client’s contracts and has done so for NFL quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Steve Young. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, however, the Saints do have a good relationship with Steinberg, but any renegotiation talks will not take place until after next season.

Steinberg, who forbids his first-year clients to enter into endorsement contracts, will ask Williams to cancel his local advertisement commitments. Also, Williams will not be allowed to talk with reporters while wearing his helmet, which was his common practice last season during his weekly interviews. The Times-Picayune reports that Steinberg is primarily interested in both establishing Williams as a top NFL running back and in cleansing William’s tarnished image, which was only exacerbated by the player’s comments in a recent Sports Illustrated article.