The 2012 BSN Collegiate Showcase is a three day event, beginning on Friday, March 9, 2012 and concluding on Sunday, March 11, 2012, taking place inside the Stile Field House on the University of Akron campus.  BSN (Beyond Sports Network) is inviting the best players from around the country at the FCS (formerly Division 1-AA), Division II, Division III and NAIA levels to compete against each other.  The weekend will include a testing combine, position drills, 7-on-7 drills and two fully padded football games.  BSN’s goal is to give these talented athletes as close an experience as possible to the NFL Scouting Combine and the Senior Bowl.  A number of pro teams and scouts have already stated that they will be in attendance.

The events are as follows:

• Friday (March 9): Kicking Showcase & Player HT, WT, Hand, Arm measurements & meet/greet with fans.
• Saturday (March 10): Combine Testing in the morning, Lunch, then position drills, 1 v 1′s and 7 v 7 in the afternoon with the final 10 kickers completing the kicking showcase and competition.
• Sunday (March 11): Two All Star Games will be played and all athletes receive a guaranteed # of reps.

For more information, click here.

2012 BSN Collegiate Showcase from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

With the Heisman Trophy being awarded this weekend, another college football season slowly comes to a close. The Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best college football player in a given season, has always received a great deal of fanfare, but has the “professional” significance of this award lost some of its luster?

Allow me to explain; all you need to do is take a look at the list of Heisman Trophy winners over the past 25 years. With all due respect, you have a lot more Jason Whites and Ron Daynes than you do Charles Woodsons and Barry Sanders. Players who win this prestigious award, as evidenced over the past 25 years, are rarely great NFL players, let alone future Hall of Famers.

With the Heisman comes more than recognition and honor. Often overlooked is that with the trophy comes high expectations. More often than not, Heisman award winners are drafted relatively high in the first round of the NFL Draft. If successful in the NFL, few notice. Heisman award winners are expected to perform and perform well. On the other hand, if a Heisman award winner fails to live up to expectations at the next level, which seems to happen with regularity these days, he is wrongly labeled a “bust.” The reality is that the Heisman Trophy rewards superior collegiate performance on the field and does not reward or predict success on the professional level.

Don’t get me wrong, the Heisman Trophy is a wonderful and prestigious award, but it has never been, nor will ever be, an accurate barometer for forecasting future NFL success. That being said, if one day my son is fortunate enough to be a Heisman finalist, I would be pulling very hard for him to win this historic award.

I wish the five finalists the best of luck and continued success as they embark upon their professional careers in the National Football League.

Winning the Heisman Trophy Does Not Guarantee NFL Success from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Historically, the Senior Bowl has provided scouts with the best senior talent.  The Senior Bowl is followed by the Shrine Game.  The Texas vs. Nation Game, was known as the third best option, pitting some of the best seniors from Texas against seniors from the rest of the United States.  Neil Stratton of InsideTheLeague.com believes that an Arizona-based all-star game co-owned by former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach could take the place of Texas vs. Nation Game as the next best opportunity for players not invited to the Senior Bowl or the Shrine Game.  Last year, the Arizona game was called the Eastham Energy College All-Star Game, but with a new sponsor (the Casino Del Sol resort), expect a new name for the game.

Further, Justin VanFulpen, who has experience working for the Texas vs. Nation Game, tweeted that there will be a new college football all-star game announcement this Friday.  Perhaps that new game will be separate from the aforementioned Arizona game and will actually be a more desirable destination for college seniors.  Time will tell.

Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Game Taking A Year Off from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Before the NCAA ruled McAdoo permanently ineligible to perform in intercollegiate athletics, UNC actually petitioned the NCAA to reinstate McAdoo’s eligibility to play college ball.  But according to McAdoo, UNC made some mistakes in its petition, specifically with regards to reporting that he violated NCAA Bylaw 10.1(b) by representing another’s work as his own.  NCAA Bylaw 10.1(b) forbids knowing involvement in arranging for fraudulent academic credit or false transcripts for a prospective or an enrolled student athlete.  The claim was that McAdoo’s university-assigned tutor provided too much assistance with three classes, which was relayed to the NCAA prior to any findings by the UNC Honor Court.  UNC’s Honor Court later found McAdoo not guilty of receiving impermissible assistance in one class and did not find enough evidence to charge McAdoo with regards to another one of the three classes.  His tutor had also graduated from UNC.  Thus, technically, her assistance was an improper benefit provided to McAdoo (worth $11, as stated above).  McAdoo disputes that he ever knowingly was involved in arranging for fraudulent academic credit.

The other $99 of improper benefits relates to a financial planner named Todd Stewart, who paid for a hotel room for McAdoo, Marvin Austin, and Greg Little on an April 2010 trip to Washington D.C.  According to McAdoo’s Complaint, he was told by Marvin Austin that Austin was covering the expenses, not Stewart.  He believed that Austin paid the cover charge to the nightclub.  This was also possibly paid for by Stewart.

UNC and McAdoo informed the NCAA that they would be appealing the NCAA’s November 12, 2010 decision to declare McAdoo permanently ineligible.  However, McAdoo did not have independent counsel to represent him at the appeals hearing, and according to his Complaint, no one at UNC ever told McAdoo that UNC’s counsel could not represent his individual interest or that he should consider getting separate counsel.

McAdoo’s Complaint includes a whopping 16 claims for relief.  While McAdoo would like to be compensated by the Defendants based on their actions, he is probably more concerned with the injunctive relief sought in his filed Complaint.  McAdoo wants the Court to issue a mandatory injunction or writ of mandamus to compel UNC’s Chancellor to declare McAdoo eligible and reinstate him as a member of the UNC football team in addition to an injunction against the NCAA to keep it from declaring McAdoo ineligible.

UNC’s first 2011 regular season game is September 3, 2011 at home against James Madison.  As of right now, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions will not meet until October 28, 2011 to discuss the allegations contained in McAdoo’s Notice of Allegations.  By that time, UNC football will have played 8 games, with its 9th game occurring one day later at home against Wake Forest.  In order for McAdoo to prevail on his request for a preliminary injunction, he will have to prove that he will suffer irreparable harm by losing out on organized team practices and the playing of those 8 games (and potentially more games) in 2011.  He should use Weslye Saunders as an example of the type of harm that a player may suffer from missing a year of college football.

For more on this story, Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated provides strong commentary.

McAdoo Verified Complaint Final

Michael McAdoo Sues UNC, NCAA To Restore Eligibility from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Football

• Includes failure to adequately monitor the social media activity of the team [North Carolina Receives NCAA Notice Of Allegations].
• College football players were accepting benefits under the table back in the 1940s [Pay for Pay - How one college athlete received cash or benefits while at USC].
• Supported by the competition committee [Roster sizes could be expanded during training camp].

Basketball

• Gabe Feldman is back with another “user-friendly” explanation of the issues at hand [The Legal Issues Behind the Looming NBA Lockout].
• About the NBA Draft that has become a game within the game [Fifteen Years of the NBA Draft].

Sports Business

• I am interviewed on a variety of subjects [An Agent’s Take on Lockouts, the NCAA, and Paying Athletes].

Baseball

• No above-slot signings from the 2011 Draft to date [Ranking the toughest players to sign]

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (6/24/2011) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

There has not been a player selected in the first 2 rounds of the NFL Supplemental Draft since 2003.  But there also has not been a player with the skill set of Janoris Jenkins available for an NFL franchise to select in the past 8 years.

Earlier today, Coach Will Muschamp of the Florida Gators announced that Jenkins would be moving ahead to the next stage of his career, which meant that Jenkins’ time as a member of the Gators football team had come to a close.  While the news could not have come easy to Jenkins, it allows the extremely talented player to showcase his skills immediately at the next level.  As long as there is a Supplemental Draft this year (which usually occurs in July), it will be wise for Jenkins to enter his name into the pool of available players.  If there is no Supplemental Draft, Jenkins will be smart to enroll at a Division I-AA school instead of transferring to a FBS school (where he would have to sit out a year).

Janoris Jenkins is a first-team All-SEC selection.  He was named to College Football News and Sporting News? Freshman All-American team.  Rivals.com ranked Jenkins as the 6th best cornerback of his class coming out of high school, and he only improved upon that ranking while at the University of Florida.  On November 10, 2010, Todd McShay predicted that Jenkins would be selected at #15 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, ahead of Mark Ingram, Nick Fairley, and Julio Jones. This was prior to Jenkins expressing his intentions to return to Florida for one last season.  No one has said a word about Jenkins’ having performance issues.  Does being charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession 4 days ago really drop his stock to anything below a 2nd round Supplemental Draft pick?  Any team with a need at cornerback is crazy to pass up that kind of talent in the 2nd round.

Jenkins is supposedly already in the process of selecting an agent to help him with the Supplemental Draft.  He will need an advisor who is going to tell him what he needs to hear, and not necessarily what he wants to hear.  As long as he understands that the tough love is what will allow him to get to and excel at the next level, I have faith that Jenkins has a bright future ahead of him.  Further, I think the newest pride of Pahokee, Florida needs to select an agent who has strong ties to people who can help him show his compassionate side and do some good off the field of play.  This will lessen the focus on previous arrests.

A total of 40 players have been taken in the Supplemental Draft since its creation in 1977.  Big name players such as Bernie Kosar, Brian Bosworth, and Cris Carter found their spots in the NFL this way.  If given the opportunity, I believe Jenkins will do the same, and will have a very successful NFL career.

The Next Chapter For Janoris Jenkins from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

What: KU Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium

When: Friday, April 15, 2011

Where: Green Hall Room 203

Topics

• Hey, who Tweeted? It wasn’t me!

Social media provides a great forum in which to express oneself, but what free speech rights do collegiate student athletics have within it? May a member institution legally limit student-athlete access to social media? How should athletic departments deal with “ghost tweets” – fake social media accounts and messages attributed to student-athletes, coaches and staff that could make headlines?

• Right of Publicity and Former Student-Athletes

The Ed O’Bannon Case – When do the grant-in-aid rights signed away in college end? Is a former athlete’s likeness forever the property of the NCAA and their member institutions? How will the right of publicity landscape change in the future for student-athletes?

• Death of the NCAA: Could the Super Conference Change the Game?

Could a “Super Conference” system redefine intercollegiate amateurism? What would be the ramifications for student-athletes at institutions that opt out of the NCAA? What would be the ramifications for the NCAA?

• Who Represents the Student-Athlete?

If the grant-in-aid (or scholarship) is a contractual relationship with a NCAA member institution, what power does the student athlete have to negotiate the terms? Who may represent the student athlete without risking NCAA eligibility? Should students fight to be considered employees and unionize? What role should agents play with collegiate athletes? How may the NCAA change such role in the future? How do pro sports league labor negotiations affect the current college student-athletes wishing to enter the pro sports field?

• Big Headache: Ethical Issues Associated with College Football Concussions and Mass Tort Litigation

As research demonstrates the long-term negative effects of damaged caused by repeated head injuries sustained in football, what liability, if any, does the NCAA and member institutions have?  What information and education is being provided to student-athletes by the NCAA, member institutions, medical staff, etc. regarding concussions and the associated risks?  What rights do former student-athletes have to recover for their injuries?

If you have any questions, please email Jade Freeman at Jadefeeman@ku.edu or Libby Harmon at Libby912@ku.edu.

Kansas Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I applaud the state legislators like Rep. David J. Sanders in Arkansas and those in the state of Oregon who care enough about the problem of inducements offered to student-athletes by sports agents, to propose changes within their states.  However, I think that these individuals have mostly missed the boat, which could end up harming true worthwhile reforms.  In a vast majority of states, athlete agent laws already exist.  In the states where they do not yet exist, legislators need to propose legislation based on the Uniform Athlete Agent Act (UAAA).  But if states with existing athlete agent statutes think that new legislation with harsher punishments for violators will serve as a noble deterrent to unscrupulous agents who will do almost anything to gain an edge over the competition for highly touted rookie players, they are certainly mistaken.  A deterrent is a state putting a sports agent in jail for ignoring its existing laws (see: Alabama).  A non-deterrent is beefing up an existing statute while failing to do something about a top tight end who had to sit out his senior season in 2010 (see: South Carolina).

South Carolina Sen. Joel Lourie is another legislator who really has fantastic intentions with regards to the protection of student-athletes and institutions of higher education within his state.  However, he has fallen into the same trap as many other congressmen throughout the country.  He believes that tougher athlete agent laws in his state will help regulate illegal contact between athletes and agents.  But most states already have the tools to regulate the illegal conduct under consideration.  Why wait?  Why not enforce the laws currently on the books?

Let it be known that I have nothing against the new legislation making its way through state legislatures.  However, the mere suggestion that the passing of new legislation will serve as some deterrent is a complete joke.  The only way agents will be deterred from ignoring laws is to actually enforce them.  Regulation is controlling through rules and regulations, not creating additional rules and regulations.

States Focused On New Athlete Agent Legislation, Not True Regulation from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I have a new nickname for Weslye Saunders.  Woeful Wes.  The past year has been rather tough for Saunders.  In fact, it has been flat out deplorable.  Going into the 2010 college football season, the former South Carolina Gamecocks Tight End was predicted to be one of, if not the, best TEs in the country.  TEs do not usually get drafted in the first round, but Saunders, who was named to the Lombardi Award Fall Watch List, had the potential to be a Day 1 pick.

Saunders was unable to play in his senior season.  He was suspended and removed from the South Carolina football team.  Saunders violated team rules, received improper benefits including heavily discounted rates at a South Carolina hotel, and made improper contact with an agent.  His good friend, Marvin Austin, also sat out the 2010 college football season, yet Austin appeared in the East-West Shrine Game and has been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.  While Austin might have been a top pick had he played last year, NFLDraftScout.com still projects him as a 2-3 rounder.

Woeful Wes won’t get drafted, though.  That is because he is not eligible for the 2011 NFL Draft, after failing to file the proper paperwork to petition his acceptance into the Draft pool in time.  He also will not be at the NFL Scouting Combine, but not because he was not invited.  Instead, he declined his invitation.

I find it hard to believe that Woeful Wes does not want to play professional football.  I assume that he enjoys playing the game and also would not mind the payday.  So what could have happened here?  Did he and his advisors not realize that players who miss their senior seasons have to file special paperwork with the league to be included in the Draft?  And why not attend the NFL Scouting Combine?

I reached out to Fletcher Smith of Blueprint Sports Group, who I had believed was Saunders’ agent.  He corrected me, and notified me that Saunders’ current agent is Butch Williams, who has his own law firm in North Carolina.  The clients listed on his website are Anthony Cannon, Alge Crumpler, Greg Ellis, Alex Hall, and Lance Long.  I emailed Butch to ask him a few questions regarding the non-filing of necessary paperwork for Saunders to be included in the draft.  I have not received a response.  Apparently, Saunders could be held out of the draft due to bad advice.

Saunders never put in the paperwork because he received an invitation from the NFL to the combine on Jan. 3, [Butch] Williams said, and interpreted the invitation as a sign he didn’t need a waiver.

It could be a very costly error for Williams, as well.  Saunders has been training at Athletes Performance (one of the most expensive training programs) in McKinney, Texas.  Williams has likely been footing the bill for Saunders’ training expenses.  And we all know that many agents are whispering things into Saunders’ ears regarding the mishap.  If Saunders cannot enter the Draft, he would have to hope that he is selected in the July Supplemental Draft, which is not certain to occur based on the current labor issues and lack of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Woeful Weslye Saunders To Be Held Out Of 2011 NFL Draft from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The Senior Bowl is the best all-star game invite for a player to receive.  The next best game is the Shrine Game.  After the Shrine Game is the Texas vs. The Nation Game, which has a new name this year.  It is now called the NFLPA Game, and will be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas in 2011.  Am I the only person who finds it odd that the NFL Player Association is spending money to sponsor one of these games?

Even though the official name of the game has changed, it will still have the same format – some of the best seniors from Texas taking on some of the best seniors from the rest of the United States.  While it is the third best game behind the Senior Bowl and Shrine Game, it is still an honor to receive an invite.  It will take place on February 5, 2011

The NFLPA Game from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules