• Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska, CB, 3rd Position, 17th Overall, Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, 1st Team All Big Ten
• Melvin Ingram, South Carolina, OLB, 1st Position, 19th Overall, 1st Team SEC, 1st Team All American
• Michael Floyd, Notre Dame, WR, 3rd Position, 22nd Overall, Notre Dame MVP 2x, FBS Independent Offensive POY
• Kelechi Osemele, Iowa State, OG, 4th Position, 43rd Overall, 1st Team Big XII, 2009 Big XII 2nd Team
• Nick Foles, Arizona, QB, 4th Position, 50th overall, Pac 12 Honorable Mention, Unitas Finalist
• Cyrus Gray, Texas A&M, RB, 9th Position, 100th Overall, 2 time Big XII honorable mention
• Harrison Smith, Notre Dame, SS, 3rd Position, 102nd Overall, All Independent 1st Team, Notre Dame Team Captain
• Kennan Robinson, Texas, OLB, 13th Position, 108th Overall, Big XII 2nd team, Butkis Awards semi-finalist
• Jeff Fuller, Texas A&M, WR, 20th Position, 158th Overall, Big XII Honorable Mention
• Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma, WR, 22nd Position, 178th Overall, 2010 and 2011 All American, NCAA all time leading receiver
• Ryan Miller, Colorado, OG, 12th Position, 220th Overall, 3rd Team All American
• Kellen Moore, Boise State, QB, 12th Position, 221st Overall, 2010 Heisman finalist, 2x All-American

Melvin Ingram and Alfonzo Dennard were discussed in this Sports Agent Blog post on January 5, 2012.

NFLDraftScout.com was used to provide the position and overall ranks listed above .

Catching Up With Athletes First’s 2012 NFL Draft Class from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Gary Wichard, the recently deceased founder of Pro Tect Management, had an absolutely freakish 2010 NFL Draft.  He and is company represented Arrelious Benn, Everson Griffen, Taylor Mays, C.J. Spiller, and Jimmy Clausen.  That was the type of draft class that would make anybody, CAA Football included, salivate.  Out of the entire group, Wichard was probably the closest with quarterback Jimmy Clausen.  Upon Wichard’s passing, Clausen Tweeted, “I am lost for words right now.”  It surely was hard for all of his clients to bare, Clausen included.

Since Wichard’s passing, many of his former clients have found new homes with different agencies.  Calais Campbell signed with Ben Dogra and Tom Condon of CAA.  As did Antonio Cromartie.  Jamaal Anderson switched to Lagardere Unlimited.  Now Jimmy Clausen has finally changed agencies, and has selected David Dunn of Athletes First.  Other quarterbacks represented by Athletes First include Kyle Orton, Mark Sanchez, Matt Schaub, Aaron Rodgers, Chad Henne, Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel, and Matt Hasselbeck – quite a list.

Jimmy Clausen Signs With David Dunn Of Athletes First from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

What:

When: Friday, March 25, 2011 (9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.)

Where: Ames Courtroom (9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) and Austin West (1:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.)

PANEL #1 – AMATEURISM PANEL - 9:30-10:40am

Different sports entities answer the question “what it means to be an amateur” in different ways.  This panel takes a “comparative” approach to amateurism and look at how domestic and international sports organizations and entities (e.g., NCAA, IOC, and other sports regulatory bodies) define “amateurism.”  This panel will discuss how each type of organization defines “amateur” differently, and ask, normatively, what is the best way to define “amateurism”

PANELISTS:

• Roger Abrams (Northeastern University Law School)
• Jeremy Bloom (World Champion Skier)
• Christian Dennie (Barlow, Garsek & Simon LLP)
• Paul Haagen (Duke University)
• Michael McCann (Vermont Law School and SI.com)
• John Nichols (Penn State University and Co-Chair of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics)

PANEL #2 – CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT PANEL – 10:50am-12:00pm

Over the past year, the landscape of college athletics has been dramatically altered with the movement of numerous teams to new conferences, including Nebraska to the Big 10, Colorado and Utah to the Pacific 10, Boise State to the Mountain West, and Brigham Young to independent status.  This raises issues about amateurism and the role of the NCAA in either facilitating or impeding conference realignment. This panel will explore legal and ethical issues related to amateurism and the role of the NCAA in conference realignment.

PANELISTS:

• Greg Byrne (Athletics Director, University of Arizona)
• Kristi Dosh (Taylor English Duma LLP and Forbes.com)
• Patti Ohlendorf (VP of Legal Affairs for the University of Texas at Austin)
• Patrick Rishe (Webster University and Forbes.com)
• Jason Russell (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom)
• Glenn Wong (UMass Isenberg School of Management)

SPORTS LEGACY INSTITUTE LUNCHEON - 12:00-1:00pm

The mission of the Sports Legacy Institute is to advance the study, treatment and prevention of the effects of brain trauma in athletes and other at-risk groups.  SLI was founded on June 14, 2007 by Chris Nowinski and Dr. Robert Cantu in reaction to new medical research indicating brain trauma in sports had become a public health crisis.  SLI has formalized groundbreaking neuropathological research by partnering with Boston University School of Medicine to form the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.  SLI President and CEO Chris Nowinski and other panelists will discuss SLI’s research and community outreach efforts and address the concussion crisis as it relates to intercollegiate athletes.

PANELISTS:

• Dave Bergeron (Stanford University, NFL)
• Peter Carfagna (Harvard Law School)
• Matt Henshon (Princeton University, Harvard Law School)
• Isaiah Kacyvenski (Harvard College, NFL)
• Pete Kendall (Boston College, NFL)
• Chris Nowinski (Harvard College, WWE, SLI President and CEO)
• Dave Zucker (Harvard Law School)

PANEL #3 – ATHLETE-AGENT PANEL - 1:10-2:20pm

The relationship between player agents and college athletes remains a hot topic for colleges, players, agents, players’ unions, and state governments.  Assuming we want to retain a model in which student-athletes are amateurs, how should colleges, unions, and states prevent agents from engaging in impermissible relationships with athletes?  More importantly, what role should colleges and universities play in assisting student-athletes who “go pro” in sports? This panel will discuss the athlete-agent issue by exploring agent regulation, how student-athletes and agents interact under the current regulatory regime, and what programs are in place to assist student-athletes who “go pro” in sports.

PANELISTS:

• Peter Carfagna (Harvard Law School)
• David Cornwell (DNK Cornwell)
• David Dunn (Athletes First)
• Dan Fitzgerald (Brody Wilkinson PC, Connecticut Sports Law Blog)
• Jason Levien (Agent and Former General Counsel, Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager of the Sacramento Kings)
• Mike Zarren (Assistant General Manager of the Boston Celtics)
• Warren Zola (Boston College)

PANEL #4 – LITIGATING AGAINST THE NCAA – O’BANNON/KELLER/AGNEW LAWSUITS - 2:30-3:40pm

Three pending class action lawsuits (O’Bannon v. NCAA, Keller v. EA Sports, and Agnew v. NCAA) have the potential to forever change college sports.  The O’Bannon and Keller lawsuits attack the NCAA’s licensing practices as violations of antitrust laws and the players’ rights of publicity, while Agnew’s lawsuit challenges the NCAA’s 37-year-old practice of giving one-year scholarships.  This panel will explore the merits of the pending lawsuits and the potential impact of a successful outcome for any of the plaintiffs.

PANELISTS:

• Steve Berman (Hagens Berman)
• Gabe Feldman (Tulane University Law School)
• Rick Karcher (Florida Coastal School of Law)
• Ron Katz (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP)
• Jon King (Hausfeld LLP)
• Ed O’Bannon (Former NCAA Men’s Basketball Player and Lead Plaintiff in O’Bannon v. NCAA)
• Libby Sander (Chronicle of Higher Education)

PANEL #5 – BCS PANEL - 3:50-5:00pm

The Bowl Championship Series has been attacked by legal scholars, state attorney generals, and other interested parties as violating federal antitrust law.  In 2010-11, however, non automatic-qualifying schools took home a record $24.7 million.  Additionally, Playoff PAC recently submitted a report to the Internal Revenue Service challenging the tax-exempt status of the Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar Bowls and arguing that the three BCS bowls should not be considered Section 501(c)(3) charities.  This panel explores the antitrust and tax issues associated with the BCS.

PANELISTS:

• Marc Edelman (Barry University’s Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law)
• Brian Frederick (Sports Fan Coalition)
• Alan Fishel (Arent Fox)
• Nathaniel Grow (University of Georgia)
• Stephen Ross (Penn State University Law School)
• Mark Shurtleff (Utah Attorney General)
• Katie Thomas (New York Times)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER – SONNY VACCARO - 5:00-6:15pm

Cost: Free. Register here.

Harvard Law School 2011 Sports Law Symposium from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Jack Bechta should be praised for opening up a lot of his practice for the world to understand how he recruits and maintains his clientele (even though he recently ignored my multiple requests for information regarding the representation of coach Jim Harbaugh up until yesterday, but I will get into that story later in this article).  Recently, Bechta wrote about his practice of making a pitch to athletes bound for the draft.  And I give him major kudos for writing the following line -”The fact is that, players make agents, agents don’t make players.”

Thus far, I am aware of Bechta securing the right to represent tight-end Will Yeatman from the University of Maryland.  Yeatman is not highly coveted, and currently is projected to go undrafted, but that can certainly change with a good Pro Day and/or Combine performance.

Bechta likely picked a place familiar to Yeatman, where there were few distractions, to make his pitch to the TE.  The fact that Yeatman is from San Diego, California probably played in Bechta’s favor, as he is based in the same city.  Thus, it is likely that Bechta did not even have to fly out to Maryland to make his pitch.

Back to Harbaugh.  Bechta used to make a point to let the world know that he represented Jim Harbaugh.  When the entire world wanted to know what Harbaugh would do after Stanford beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, Bechta did not say a peep about Harbaugh.  He also refused to answer any questions about who was Harbaugh’s agent of record.  Many people speculated that Harbaugh switched from Bechta to David Dunn of Athletes First roughly a month prior to the Orange Bowl victory.  But then this article explained that Harbaugh was actually being represented by Bechta and Dunn – competing agents – at the same time.  It appears that Bechta was designated as Harbaugh’s rep for negotiations concerning Stanford and Dunn was handling all negotiations with NFL teams.

NFL Agent’s Pitch To Players And Joint Representation Of Jim Harbaugh from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

At the time Calcaterra wrote his piece, Jayson Werth and Adrian Beltre were still free agents.  As Dan Furey pointed out yesterday, Werth is off of the market, after signing a contract that almost made Furey fall off his chair.  But Calcaterra did bring up an interesting general argument when it comes to Boras clients.

What happens if, in the course of a negotiation over Client A, someone on the Sox alludes to the fact that they’d prefer to spend money on Client B, or someone very much like him? I’m curious about how Boras handles that. I’m curious as to his explanation about how hitting the Sox as hard as he can in the course of a negotiation for one of his players doesn’t necessarily harm the interests of another who is obviously sought by the same team. One possible answer is that subordinates handle negotiations and are “walled off” from the man himself to keep things kosher, but I don’t think either Adrian Beltre or Jayson Werth hired Boras to be represented by a suboirdiante.

I also do not buy an argument stating that Boras does not handle his marquee clients’ negotiations himself.  This topic reminds me of a post that I published on May 8, 2009, which partly discussed David Dunn of Athletes First’s representation of Mark Sanchez and Kellen Clemens, who at the time was fighting with Sanchez for the starting quarterback role.  In the post, I quoted Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, who wrote:

Every agent should want his client to be a starter — and should be doing everything he can to make the case for the player to start.

Clemens needs an agent who’ll be doing just that.  And Sanchez needs an agent who’ll do the same, especially since his contract will have a big-money one-time bonus triggered by participating in 35 percent of the snaps this year, of which Dunn will get a fee.

Dunn, however, has no choice but to keep his head low and his mouth shut.  So, neither guy will be getting the best possible representation.

It’s a conflict of interest.  And one of the two players should hire a new agent.

Should it also be said regarding Boras’ representation of free agent players at the same position?  While it may not be an issue of who is starting, it could come down to who is signed by what team and for how much money.

Does Scott Boras Ever Feel Conflicted? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Wichard was suspended for having impermissible communication with UNC’s Marvin Austin prior to Austin being eligible for the NFL Draft.  Wichard waived his right to appeal the suspension.  Egan’s certification was revoked for “violating numerous provisions of the NFLPA’s Agent Regulations when he provided an improper benefit under NCAA rules by giving University of Southern California player Dillon Baxter a ride in his company’s golf cart, resulting in Baxter being suspended for USC’s game against Oregon State in November…He also is alleged to have placed misleading information on his agency’s website about his relationship with a Southern California attorney.”

Many NFLPA certified Contract Advisors had called for the revocation of Teague Egan’s certification since his name started popping up in connection with football players at the University of Southern California.  People were upset that the NFLPA granted certification to someone who had not only lacked a post-graduate degree, but had not yet even finished his undergraduate education.  Egan, who calls himself a student-agent, was the focus of an interview on Sports Agent Blog.  Egan wrapped up my interview with the following line, “It’s not the grades you make, it’s the hands you shake.”  Since publishing the interview, most people have been talking about this embarrassing Campus Cribs video featuring Egan.

Whereas Egan has never signed his name on a Uniform Player’s Contract, Gary Wichard runs a successful football company named Pro Tect Management.  The company has been around for 30 years and represents Jason Taylor, Dwight Freeney, Terrell Suggs, Keith Bulluck, Antonio Cromartie, Elvis Dumervil, Darren Sproles, Arrelious Benn, Jimmy Clausen, Everson Griffen, Taylor Mays, C.J. Spiller…the list goes on.

After the media reported on Wichard’s close ties with former UNC associate head coach John Blake, and Marvin Austin, the defensive tackle that Blake used to coach, was subpoenaed by investigators from the office of North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, Wichard’s phone was ringing with people asking questions about his recruiting of UNC athletes.

On July 17, 2010, Wichard said the following to the News and Observer,

“I’ve never talked to him [Marvin Austin] about representing him. I’ve never gone down there, and I never will.”

Yet, Wichard has no intention to appeal the nine month suspension for impermissible communication.  I guess the fact that there is proof that Austin has stayed at a hotel in California under his own name along with Wichard’s company name, Pro Tect Management, does not help his cause.

While no one other than Egan and his immediate family is complaining about the revocation of his certification, there are quite a few agents who are very displeased with the NFLPA’s action taken against Wichard.  They think it was way too light; a slap on the wrist.  I, for one, am not surprised at all with the NFLPA’s disciplinary action.

As I wrote on October 4, 2010, I am more interested in the State of North Carolina’s reaction than the NFLPA’s response.  The NFLPA’s suspension does not really do anything other than give rival agents ammo against Wichard when recruiting potential new clients.  Wichard will continue to earn money on clients represented by Pro Tect, and will likely continue to be involved in his client’s lives.  His name will not appear on any new Uniform Player’s Contracts, but Pro Tect has another employee by the name of Jason Chinn, who will probably take over representation duties for all Pro Tect clients.  You know that C.J. Spiller is not going anywhere.  High profile agent David Dunn of Athletes First received an 18 month suspension from the NFLPA in the past.  A few years later, he just happens to run one of the most powerful football agencies in the country.

Word on the street is that North Carolina’s Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, has been “missing in action” as of late.  She was not very involved with the NFLPA as it decided the proper discipline of Wichard.  Is she busy conducting her own investigation, or is it case closed on Wichard?

Gary Wichard Suspended; Teague Egan’s Certification Revoked; What Now? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

On May 12 of this year, I reported that Shawne Merriman left Tom Condon of Creative Artists Agency’s (CAA) Football Division in favor of David Dunn of Athletes First.  At the time, I made a point to mention that we do not normally hear about a football player leaving a mega agency like CAA.  It turns out that it was just a temporary change.

Merriman is once again a client of Condon and his partner Ben Dogra at CAA Football.  I wonder if the company will tweet about it from its new Twitter account.  When Merriman fired Condon and Dogra, he likely was upset that CAA was unable to get him a long term contract.  Is the new change from Athletes First related to Merriman being waived by the San Diego Chargers and ending up on a non-contending Buffalo Bills?  He has been on the Bills injured reserve list since November 27, so I guess he has had enough time to think this over.

Merriman will once again be a free agent in 2011.  The gentlemen at CAA Football will be in charge of negotiating Merriman’s next deal…at least for the time being.

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

The interview with Dunn is short, so go ahead and check it out.  As for the aforementioned school subject question..

What was your favorite subject in school?

History.  One of my partners and I celebrated the signing of Ray Lewis and Todd Heap by going to Gettysburg.  History still fascinates me.  Whether it is a place, person, or time – it all effects how you think of things today.  If you can ever get to Europe, you can see so much of it right in front of your eyes.

David Dunn Is Interviewed By A Middle School Student from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

At this year’s SEC Media Days, Alabama football head coach, Nick Saban, said that the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) needs to do more to protect student-athletes from unscrupulous agents who do not have the student-athletes’ best interests in mind when offering anything of value to them.  Saban’s statement immediately gave people a place to point the finger.  Questions started to surface concerning whether the NFLPA is turning a blind eye to the lingering problem.  Could the NFLPA be doing more?  Should the NFLPA be doing more?  And what exactly can the players association do?

First of all, the NFLPA does have some power to regulate the agents that are licensed to practice within the confines of the NFL, but that power is extremely limited.  The players association certainly may decide who is worthy to be licensed to represent its member players and may also suspend or revoke an advisor’s license if it is found that the advisor is not fit for the profession.  But the NFLPA has no way to penalize a runner, financial planner, marketing agent, etc., all of whom may be involved in passing benefits to student-athletes.  Additionally, the NFLPA can do no more than suspend/revoke a license or levy a fine on a certified advisor.  The risk may be worth it to an agent.  He may see the possible consequences, see the possible gain from acting unscrupulously, and choose to roll the dice.  The NFLPA can’t put an agent, or anybody else for that matter, away in jail.  Some states can, depending on the wording of their athlete agent statutes.

And what about suspending an agent’s license to practice within the NFL?  Shouldn’t that be enough to deter an agent from pissing anyone off on the NFLPA’s Executive Committee?  When David Dunn, Chairman and CEO of Athletes First, was suspended 18 months by the NFLPA for possibly stealing clients from Leigh Steinberg, it barely affected his business.  In fact, today, Athletes First is one of the most prominent football agencies around.  The NFLPA prevented him from signing his name on an NFL uniform contract for the stated period, but do you think he wasn’t recruiting and that others at his company were not signing players?  Thus, suspending a prominent agent’s license may not even be all that effective on its own, since others at his company could theoretically work on his behalf.

This post is not intended to let the NFLPA entirely off the hook for regulating agents’ behavior and enforcing punishment when they do not adhere to the proscribed standards.  My sole intention is to make people aware that even if the NFLPA decides to ramp up its punishment, it can only do so much.  Thus, Nick Saban should consider the other ways that the agent profession may be regulated, and others should open their minds to a new statutory scheme.  That new statutory scheme will be discussed in an article I am co-authoring, which will hopefully hit a law review later this year.

Asking Too Much Of The NFLPA? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Basketball

• An agent of a former UK 2010 NBA Draft pick might be in some trouble [Kentucky Basketball Players Subject of NCAA Probe].

Baseball

• Cool with the super-two. Not cool with teams manipulating it [MLBPA To Consider Changes To Arbitration Process].
• I would imagine that Matt Sosnick (Jay Bruce’s agent) is pretty happy about this [Super Two Cutoff Less Than Expected].
• A lot of reasons why Puerto Rico is poised for a comeback [Sanchez: Game regains status in Puerto Rico].
• His involvement with A-Rod [Warren Buffett: sports agent?].

Football

• NFLPA Agent Terry Bolar described the lawsuit as “a headache that in the end has made me a better person.” [Agent says he's reached lawsuit settlement with former client, Bills' CB McGee].
• Includes Marvin Demoff and David Dunn [San Diego Chargers Quarterback Philip Rivers Added to NFL 101 Lineup].

Hockey

• One of the only African-American agents in professional hockey [Eustace King: Sports Agent, Business Partner, Friend].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (7/2/2010) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules