Basketball

• A 26-year-old former Priority Sports and Entertainment basketball operations intern making big moves in the D-League [Joey Meyer, Mad Ants 'part ways'].
• That’s a familiar last name… [Nets hire Penn grad Matt Tellem as “Capologist”].

Football

• Signed with Madison, Wisconsin-based Mark Eisenberg [College roundup: Spartans' Zweifel signs agent].
• Legal dispute between Peter Schaffer and C. Lamont Smith over finances [Agents to NFL stars mired in legal battle].
• He dropped Andrew Bondarowicz and hired David Canter [CFL all-star Mitchell takes his talents to Miami].
• This weeks’ must read [Leigh Steinberg: Setting The Record Straight On Bankruptcy, Addiction And Career].
• Very sad that agents are becoming more and more like banks [As rookie money dries up, agents continue to cut great deals for players].
• Lamonte represents Cleveland Browns President Mike Holmgren, GM Tom Heckert, Executive Vice President Bryan Wiedmeier, head coach Pat Shurmur, and quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple [Bob LaMonte, Our 2011 Cleveland Browns MVP].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (1/13/2012) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

NFL agent Peter Schaffer was recently the subject of a Rick Reilly article on ESPN.com.  In that article, Reilly provided a detailed account of Schaffer’s day after the NFL Lockout had ended.  From his home in Denver, Colorado, Schaffer conversed with many of his clients, who include Adam “Pacman” Jones, Derrick Mason, Russell Okung, Gerald Hayes, Phil Taylor, Tanard Jackson, and Jordan Babineaux.

The 48-year old Schaffer had been partners with C. Lamont Smith at All Pro Sports & Entertainment (APSE) for many years.  Together, the two of them recruited many very talented football players.  If you head over to APSE’s “Team” page, you will see that Schaffer’s name is no longer listed.  However, take a trip through the internet Wayback Machine back to November 15, 2010, and there Schaffer is, listed as Principal of APSE.

I am not aware as to what kind of role (if any) Schaffer still has with APSE, but what I do know is that he recently started a new agency called Authentic Athletix (AA).  AA’s website lists clients in 4 categories: baseball, football, golf, and hockey.  Interestingly, many football clients listed on AA’s website are still listed as clients on APSE’s website.  I assume that this issue will be resolved, unless of course, there is some sort of partnership between APSE and AA’s new entity.

I have attempted to reach out to Lamont Smith and Peter Schaffer to ask about Authentic Athletix, Schaffer’s role with APSE (if one still exists), and other questions regarding the AA and APSE, but have not yet received any response.  Perhaps Schaffer will respond after his next long run.

Peter Schaffer Behind New Sports Agency Authentic Athletix from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The 6’1, 212 lbs. running back from Arizona State named Ryan Torain is one of those players who was not necessarily expected to be a starter at any point of his professional career.  He was drafted in the 5th round of the 2008 NFL Draft (#148 overall) by the Denver Broncos, and surprisingly had a chance at becoming the go-to-guy in his rookie season after injuries to 2 other Broncos RBs.  However, Torain was bit by the injury bug as well, and was eventually waived in August 2009 by the team that drafted him.

Luckily for Torain, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan was coach of the Broncos when the team selected Torain in the Draft.  Torain was picked up by the Redskins in April 2010 only to be released in September of that same year and then re-signed to the team’s practice squad later that month.  Soon thereafter, Torain would stake Clinton Portis’ spot as the main running back on the team and perform at a very high level, even though he suffered another injury in the 2010 season.

Ryan Torain has a lot of potential.  He is only 24-years-old (turns 25 on August 10) and already has experience as a starting running back.  Unfortunately for Jack Scharf, that talented young running back will be represented by another company.  Torain has switched from Scharf to the team at All Pro Sports & Entertainment (APSE).  APSE is led by C. Lamont Smith and Peter Schaffer.

On To The Next One: Ryan Torain from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Verizon has been celebrating the stories of African Americans from the past and present who epitomize dreaming big.  Throughout February (Black History Month), Verizon featured various African Americans, presenting them as heroes.  Last week, Charles Lamont Smith, better known as C. Lamont Smith, was highlighted in the video series.  The video is embedded at the top of this post.

C. Lamont Smith is Founder/President of All Pro Sports and Entertainment (APSE).  In the video, Smith talks a bit about nurturing his clients’ growth as people.  He also states, “If you aspire to greatness in no matter what it is that you do, the money will come.”

Big props to Smith for starting a very successful company.  Now Smith and the rest of the crew at APSE have to figure out a plan that will prevent Drew Rosenhaus from capturing their clients.

Charles Lamont Smith’s Story from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Anyway, the teleconference’s mission had absolutely nothing to do with All Pro Sports & Entertainment. In fact, any time Smith was asked a question about his role as an agent, he quickly brushed it aside, saying that it was not on topic. Instead, Smith had his publicist, LaTanya Marble, call the conference to discuss his new venture: Jocklife.com.

The call ran about forty-five minutes and I was one of four journalists asking C. Lamont Smith questions about his new multimedia platform. The pre-determined talking point was: Are athletes represented in a fair and balance way in the media?”

Here is the short Q&A that I had with C. Lamont Smith, along with some Q&A between other journalists and Smith.

Darren Heitner: What in particular led you to create a website like Jocklife.com?

C. Lamont Smith: My interest started to develop a couple of years ago. We went through a strain where you had unprecedented cases of athletes being covered in the media (Pacman, Vick, Carmelo, Marion Jones, Barry Bonds). We went through a period where we were bombarded with images of athletes being convicted/accused of crimes. It was very depressing to me. I understand a different side of athletics. I understand a side of guys who are very professional and do great things in the community. I started to think to myself, how can a broader, more balanced picture of athletes be painted.

Darren Heitner: As a sports agent, do you think there is any conflict of interest in creating a website that will cover the athletic landscape while concurrently representing players?

C. Lamont Smith: Jocklife is a completely separate entity from All Pro Sports & Entertainment. My background is journalism, though. I worked in TV and Radio for 4 years before I went to law school to become a lawyer. I feel that I am qualified to be in this movement. I will not be very involved in the development of the website, though. We will hire qualified individuals to run the day-to-day operations of Jocklife.

Other Journalist: You mention your journalism background. How did you become a sports agent?

C. Lamont Smith: I first stumbled into representing athletes. I was working in Atlanta after I graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism. I knew a guy named John Drew, who played for the Atlanta Hawks. He asked me to assist him in procuring endorsements in the area. Through seeing what was not happening with John, I got introduced to the whole sports agent industry. Seeing how dreadful his career ended up, I decided to go the sports agent route.

Other Journalist: What will Jocklife bring to the table in terms of unique content offered?

C. Lamont Smith: Jocklife.com is for athletes of all levels: high school, college, and professional. The whole jist of the Jocklife platform is to bring some balance and fairness to the coverage of athletes…give athletes the opportunity to define themselves. Today, athletes are really defined by the coverage they get and the stories written about them. Very few times do they have the opportunity to define themselves in an extended fashion.

Other Journalist: When will we know the athletes that will be involved in Jocklife?

C. Lamont Smith: The site is live, but we have not hard-launched it yet. We have had preliminary discussions with prominent athletes who have received the concept very well. Right now, clients of ours are up on the site. When we have a hard-launch, early September before the 1^st regular season game, we anticipate a very good response. We are not asking athletes to give anything or spend money. We will allow them to present a different side of themselves.

Darren Heitner: How will you differentiate Jocklife from a site like Yardbarker.com, which already has a platform for athletes to blog about their lives?

C. Lamont Smith: I believe that Yardbarker is more oriented towards giving young athletes insight into what it takes to perform at a high level. Jocklife is more of a news/lifestyle site than it is a performance site. Its mission is really to spread and enhance the image of athletes, where I think that the mission of Yardbarker is to give young athletes an insight into how to increase and give good performance.

C. Lamont Smith said this in ending the discussion, “We are in a society where the media builds athletes up only to tear them down. It is a sensationalized media environment, which is why I believe there is a great opportunity for Jocklife.” Does Jocklife sound like a site you would be interested in visiting? What about a site that you frequent regularly? Does it separate itself enough from Yardbarker?

C. Lamont Smith Introduces Jocklife.com from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules