First Round

1. St. Louis Rams – Ndamukong Suh – DT – Nebraska – Roosevelt Barnes (Maximum Sports)

2. Detroit Lions – Derrick Morgan – DE – Georgia Tech – Tom Condon and Ben Dogra (CAA)

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Eric Berry – S – Tennessee – Chad Speck (Allegiant Athletic Agency)

4. Washington Redskins – Jimmy Clausen – QB – Notre Dame – Gary Wichard (Pro Tect Management)

5. Kansas City Chiefs – Gerald McCoy – DT – Oklahoma – Tom Condon, Ben Dogra, and Kelli Masters (CAA & Kelli Masters Management)

6. Seattle Seahawks – Russell Okung – OT – Oklahoma State – Peter Schaffer and Lamont Smith (All Pro Sports & Entertainment)

7. Cleveland Browns – Joe Haden – CB – Florida – DSI Sports

8. Oakland Raiders – Bryan Bulaga – OT – Iowa – Tom Condon and Ben Dogra (CAA)

9. Buffalo Bills – Dez Bryant – WR – Oklahoma State – Eugene Parker (Maximum Sports)

10. Denver Broncos (from Chicago) – Rolano McClain – LB – Alabama – Pat Dye (ProFiles Sports)

11. Jacksonville Jaguars – Arrelious Benn – WR – Illinois – Gary Wichard (Pro Tect Management)

12. Miami Dolphins – Jermaine Gresham – TE – Oklahoma – Tom Condon and Ben Dogra (CAA)

13. San Francisco 49ers – Taylor Mays – S – USC – Gary Wichard (Pro Tect Management)

14. Seattle Seahawks (from Denver) – C.J. Spiller – RB – Clemson – Gary Wichard (Pro Tect Management)

15. New York Giants – Brandon Spikes – LB – Florida – Terry Watson (Watson Sports Agency)

16. Tennessee Titans – Kyle Wilson – CB – Boise State – Joel Segal and Chafie Fields (BEST)

17. San Francisco 49ers (from Carolina) – Mike Iupati – OG – Idaho – Ryan Tollner (Rep 1 Sports)

18. Pittsburgh Steelers – Golden Tate – WR – Notre Dame – Todd France (FAAM)

19. Atlanta Falcons – Anthony Davis – OT – Rutgers – Sunny Shah (320 Sports)

20. Houston Texans – Earl Thomas – S – Texas – David Dunn, Joby Branion, Mark Humenik, Andrew Kessler and Justin Schulman (Athletes First)

21. Cincinnati Bengals – Aaron Hernandez – TE – Florida – David Dunn, Joby Branion, Mark Humenik, Andrew Kessler and Justin Schulman (Athletes First)

22. New England Patriots – Jahvid Best – RB – California – Tony Fleming, Mitch Frankel, Sean Kiernan and Jack Scharf (Impact Sports)

23. Green Bay Packers – Brandon Graham – DE – Michigan – Joel Segal (BEST)

24. Philadelphia Eagles – Sergio Kindle – LB – Texas – Joel Segal (BEST)

25. Baltimore Ravens – Marty Gilyard – WR – Cincinnati – Andy Simms and Nate Haber (PlayersRep)

26. Arizona Cardinals – Rob Gronkowski – TE – Arizona – Drew Rosenhaus (Rosenhaus Sports Representation)

27. Dallas Cowboys – Bruce Campbell – OT – Maryland – Drew Rosenhaus (Rosenhaus Sports Representation)

28. San Diego Chargers – Sean Weatherspoon – LB – Chargers – David Dunn, Joby Branion, Mark Humenik, Andrew Kessler and Justin Schulman (Athletes First)

29. New York Jets – Everson Griffen – DE – USC – Gary Wichard (Pro Tect Management)

30. Minnesota Vikings – Donovan Warren – CB – Michigan – Drew Rosenhaus (Rosenhaus Sports Representation)

31. Indianapolis Colts – Jason Pierre-Paul – DE – South Florida – Drew Rosenhaus (Rosenhaus Sports Representation)

32. New Orleans Saints – Maurkice Pouncey – C – Florida – Joel Segal and Chafie Fields (BEST)

Notes:

• Anyone have anything to add about DSI Sports (the company that Joe Haden signed with)?  I cannot seem to find anything regarding the agency.
• Rosenhaus looks to break back into having a solid presence in the first round.  That said, none of his guys look like they are going to be first half of the first round mega earners.
• Pro Tect Management is not on the same level as CAA, BEST, and Athletes First, but based on who Gary Wichard is representing this year, you would never know that his company doesn’t represent Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush, or Mark Sanchez.  Perilli has Pro Tect Management leading all agencies in first round selections.
• Nice to see my boys Andy Simms and Nate Haber possibly breaking the first round.  PlayersRep is definitely an up-and-coming agency.  They had the unfortunate obligation of dealing with Chris Henry’s death (may he rest in peace), but have managed to still gain some great clients with that heavy burden.

Sports Business

• ESPN should start taking notes [The SportsStream Comes To SBNation].
• Makes sense to stick with a brand you have been using your entire life [Phelps Re-Signs With Speedo Through 2013].
• Good tips on preserving and protecting your clients’ wealth [Play Ball! Estate Planning for Professional Athletes].

Football

• Is the LFL living up to its hype? [Lingerie Football Sizzles in Season Opener]
• Ever wonder why so many players get injured near the end of the preseason? [Injury Settlements for Waived Players]
• Peter Schaffer, definitely wearing his lawyer hat [Quinn arrested after confrontation].
• Anyone want the Flacco Family Feast? [Flacco's potential as pitchman grows with on-field success]

Baseball

• The internet has done wonders for fan access to information and players’ ability to communicate with fans and other players [A Whole New Game].

“One of the big things I really liked,” Thomas said, “he [Peter Schaffer] respected everyone, no matter how important or unimportant they were in the process. He never wanted anyone to feel like they were being taken advantage of. I think a lot of big-time agents go on power trips after they have big-time clients, but he has never done that. My goal was to find a firm that had top prospects, but yet hasn’t turned into a super megafirm where you don’t get the personalized service that you’re looking for.” – Joe Thomas

Thomas, along with other NFL players like Jamar Adams and Mike Hart chose Schaffer and All Pro Sports & Entertainment over rival agents.  Their list of clients is nothing to scoff at, but in comparison to Rosenhaus and Condon, it does not compare.  In fact, Lito Sheppard recently dropped All Pro for Rosenhaus.  Think Schaffer is holding a grudge?  From Saturday’s Denver Post,

“I don’t think Scott Boras is bad for business; he takes a very intellectual approach and he drives a hard bargain, but he represents his client.

“But Drew Rosenhaus and people like him stretch the level of credibility. That’s bad, because you’re in a business where you want to portray a sense of ethics, morality and honesty and he’s admitting that he’s lying and cheating and stealing to get contracts and players. That’s not good for any business.

“The morals and ethics of our society have to be driven by the professionals of our society. It’s always easy to lie and cheat to get to where you want to go, but it should be about doing it the right way. I don’t think the way he does things can be defined as successful — in any business. He makes it harder for us, but people like that will never affect how we do business.”

Zing!  I felt the crack of that whip all the way in Florida…many miles away from Colorado, which is where Schaffer calls home.  Here are some snippets that are actually informative,

“We tell [players] what an agent legitimately can and can’t do and what they should expect. The biggest misconceptions about the business are created by other agents telling clients what can happen. Like in marketing, you can take an offensive lineman and tell him he’s going to get TV commercials and roles in Hollywood movies, but the reality is that’s probably not gonna happen. Yet someone will tell them that with a straight face and it gets hard to convince them otherwise.”

“Every contract has its own unique issues and challenges, whether it’s a seventh-round pick or a top-10 player. You have to treat everyone like it’s Barry Sanders because it’s their career, and you have to put their own individual stamp on their deal to put them in the best situation.

“It’s interesting on an intellectual level because there are so many moving parts: Is it a three-, four- or five-year deal? . . . What about incentives? . . . Can a player reach them? Do you want the player to stay with a team? If he’s a nickel back on a team, do you do a shorter deal so he can go to another team and be a starter? You want to look at a contract, not only as it being good today, but also it being good tomorrow or the next year, too.”

But I really like Schaffer’s parting words…

My dad always told me, “Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut.”

Yeah, I bet Rosenhaus is thinking that Schaffer should have heeded his dad’s advice right about now.

It’s well known that the vast majority of PGA Tour players are rank-and-file Republicans. Or at the very “worst,” closet independents. Over the years, some players have been more vocal than others about their political leanings. No one will ever forget in 1993, for example, when Ryder Cup team member Paul Azinger (this year’s U.S. captain) initially refused to attend a pre-match invitation to the White House from President Bill Clinton before the team flew to England. While part of Azinger’s problem was supposedly Clinton’s proposed tax increase for high-income wage earners, it later came out that his real beef centered around the fact that the President had dodged the Vietnam draft.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that informal polls on Tour driving ranges so far have John McCain with a comfortable popularity lead. But Tiger Woods, for one, divulged recently in Dubai that he may be leaning towards Democratic candidate Barack Obama, believing him to be an “inspiration.” Over at Chris Lewis’ blog you can read the entirety of Tiger’s press conference response.

Speaking of Woods and Obama, Golfworld’s Jaime Diaz compares ‘Obamamania’ to pre-1997 Tigermania, when “Woods was still mostly promise, although there was a certainty and presence and sense of destiny to the young man, the kind Obama increasingly has demonstrated in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both manias reflect an America willing to trust its gut more than its head. But tellingly, with Woods there was no second-guessing, and the same seems to be true with Obama.” In the same vain, SI’s Michael Bamberger wonders whether Woods, “simply by conducting his business the way he does, [has] helped make the country more tolerant?”

Ironically, some think that Tiger may be destined for the political stage himself. When his AT&T tournament chose the D.C. located Congressional as its annual venue, “Woods revived speculation that, someday, he might carry his popularity and success into the political arena, following the paths of such athletes turned lawmakers as Democrat Bill Bradley and Republican Jack Kemp.” Hey, even Wood’s late father, Earl, thought as much. In 1996, Woods predicted to Sports Illustrated that his son’s reach would extend well beyond golf: “Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity,” he surmised.

A Tiger presidency would be interesting, as would the “race” to be Tiger’s running mate. You’d have to think either “Stevie” (caddie Steve Williams) and/or “Steiney” (IMG agent Mark Steinberg) would have the inside track.

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The New Chairman: Zach Johnson

Tour players had another election on their minds recently, and at the end of the day, it was Zach Johnson who earned the mandate. Masters champion, and Titleist ambassador, Johnson defeated Brett Quigley and Rich Beem for the role of chairman of the Players Advisory Council. The election means Johnson will move up to the policy board next year. Johnson is represented by SFX Golf’s Brad Buffoni.

As Tim Rosaforte explains, “PGA Tour members rely on the Player Advisory Council (PAC) and the PGA Tour Policy Board to represent them on issues involving [commissioner Tim] Finchem and his staff. The PAC, a 16-player committee, serves as a filter to the policy board, which is comprised of four players (Stewart Cink, Brad Faxon, Joe Ogilvie and David Toms) and four volunteer independent directors, all of whom are among the nation’s most prominent businessmen and one member from the PGA of America. The latter includes Hearst Corporation president Vic Ganzi, who has replaced retiring Richard Ferris of United Airlines as chairman; Ed Whitacre, the former chairman and CEO of AT&T; and financial executives John McCoy of Bank One and Ken Thompson of Wachovia. The PGA of America director is Brian Whitcomb, the association’s president. The Player directors are consulted but have little input in the appointment of independent directors. This nine-man council sits at the right hand of Finchem and governs the tour.

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A PGA Players’ Union?

Even with the presence of the PAC and the policy board, there have been grumblings recently—mainly in relation to the Tour’s newly adopted drug policy—that players’ voices are being drowned out, or even outright ignored by Finchem. As I blogged last week, the phrase “collective bargaining” is now even being tossed around on Tour driving ranges.

With that in mind, Golfweek reports that All-Pro Sports & Entertainment Principal Peter Schaffer “has been dialing his agent brethren in an effort to form the PGA Tour’s equivalent of the [NFLPA], with the NFLPA willing to bankroll the venture in the early stages.”

Schaffer, who represents PGA Tour member Jonathan Kaye and “more than a dozen current and former NFL players … has been calling in an effort to lure a reputable, highly ranked player to battle the drug issue.” One agent contacted by Schaffer quipped, “It’s the same reason why any union would try to get people involved in other unions — to help with their own negotiations. Let’s say the golfers unionize and they get a perk from the PGA Tour they don’t have in the NFL or NHL. The NFLPA can then go back and say, ‘Hey, we want this, too, or we’re walking.’ It’s kind of like the way the mob unionized in the ’60s.”

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FedEx Adjustments

As expected, the PGA Tour has already adjusted its FedEx Cup points system. The changes will allegedly allow for more leaderboard movement during the playoffs.

The policy board passed a number of measures during a meeting this past week at the Honda Classic. There will be two changes to the FedEx Cup points structure. One, the 144 players who qualify for the Cup will have their point gaps narrowed. For example, the gap between first and second will now be 500 points, down from 1,000 last year, with smaller proportional gaps down to 144. Also, players will receive 2,000 more points in each playoff finish position, which it is hoped will result in more player movement between events. The Tour estimates the changes would have doubled the number of players mathematically capable of winning the FedEx Cup during last year’s finale at the Tour Championship.

Other changes announced this week: the field for the Children’s Miracle Network Classic was reduced from 132 to 128 to accommodate daylight hours for the early November tournament. The Memorial was expanded from 105 to 120 players as part of the Tour’s goal to keep at least 120 players in limited-field events. The Frys.com Open, a Fall Series event staged in Scottsdale from ‘07-09, will move to a course in San Jose called The Institute that is owned by San Jose-based Fry’s. The invitational event will be called The Institute Championship.

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Another Golf Channel Gaffe

Between Dottie Pepper’s Solheim hiccup, Kelly Tilghman’s unadvised attempt to put Don Imus to shame, and now Nick Faldo’s blatant pimping of TaylorMade, you wonder whether or not Tim Finchem is regretting the 15-year deal the Tour inked last year for the Golf Channel to become the exclusive cable television home for the PGA Tour.

During the morning 18 of last Sunday’s Accenture WGC match play final between Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink (both Swoosh sponsored), Faldo, once a hawker of Nike himself, went out of his way to prop up the TaylorMade golf ball while denigrating Nike’s ball as being one only for “certain players with high skill levels.” Specifically, Faldo referred to the test results in Golf Magazine’s February cover story “Revealed: The Best Ball For You!” that showed that under launch conditions meant to replicate the swing of the average player (90-mph swing speed, 13.75-degree launch angle, 2,900 rpm) the TaylorMade TP Black produced 259.1 yards of carry and roll compared with 239.1 yards for the Nike One Platinum. Faldo then said that the Nike ball “fell out of the sky.”

Faldo’s seemingly off-the-cuff remarks came right on the heels of the announcement of the beginning of a long-term relationship with the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company in a role that will touch on marketing, product innovation and creation, product testing, player evaluation and more. Ironically, Nike equipment has now been bashed not only for being inferior (see Phil Mickelson’s comments a few years back), but also for being so advanced that only a select few should bother using it. So which is it? No comment yet from Tiger, and don’t expect one.

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No More Tabasco, Please

According to various reports, Woody Austin will no longer be wearing his trademark, colorful, scenic Tabasco shirts this year. Rather, the company that makes the hot sauce (The McIlhenny Company) grew tired of the “media ripping my shirts,” Austin said. “They said it was too much of a negative on their brand.”

Austin, for one, claims that he never understood all the critiques from the “fashion police” in the first place, and thought that the bright colors showed off his personality.

“How can I be so bad off?” Austin said. “I’m not the one showing up in lavender purple pants and I don’t show up with giant white belts and burgundy colored shirts and Fedora hats. I don’t show up with a tie. I don’t understand how a fun, colorful shirt is so bad as opposed to all that.”

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Other News

* Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay has signed a deal to sponsor LPGA Tour player Becky Lucidi, who will display the Colts’ logo on her golf bag, shirt and visor (Colts). The Indianapolis Star’s Mike Chappell reports that Irsay will “pick up the tab for all of Lucidi’s overhead expenses: travel, accommodations, meals.” Irsay publicist Myra Borshoff Cook: “That basically allows Becky to concentrate fully on the tour. She doesn’t have to worry about her week-to-week expenses.”

* Globalization advocate Thomas Friedman argues that the world is flat. So too, it seems, is the LPGA Tour, as evidenced by the influx of Asians in particular (primarily from women’s golf crazed South Korea), and also a world rankings list that starts off Mexico, Sweden, Norway and Australia, before finally hitting the U.S. (Paula Creamer). Geoff Shackelford blogs on Tour commissioner and “Brand Lady” Carolyn Bivens’ reponse to this relatively newfound phenomenon.

* Three of Golf Digest’s Campus Insider Ryan Herrington’s weekly Top 5 men’s collegiate teams are from the SEC (Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia), although the deepest team in the country (and my favorite to win the NCAA) is still the second-ranked UCLA Bruins, whose JV (blue) squad would probably rank in the Top 20 by itself.

* In an event where only 13 players finished under par, the world’s number one ranked female Lorena Ochoa opened with rounds of 66, 65 and 69 to take an eight-stroke lead over Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer, cruising to a Tiger-like eleven-stroke victory in the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore this past weekend. Ochoa (pictured) missed a chance to break Cindy Mackey’s 72-hole LPGA record for margin of victory of 14, but topped her own mark of 10 in the 2006 Tournament of Champions. For more on the HSBC tournament, and other LPGA news, check out Hound Dog’s impressive, in-depth LPGA blog.

* As part of a clothing deal with Reebok, 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis wears the NFL colors of the local team in whichever town he’s playing. Thus, this past week Curtis was appropriately clad in a Miami Dolphins shirt and visor, as PGA National is about an hour north of the Dolphins’ home field. Curtis was recruited to IMG by Jay Danzi, who later was wriggled away by Wasserman Media Group to head its golf division. But thus far Curtis has remained under IMG’s representation.

* Over at Gaylord Sports Management in Scottsdale, the client list continues to grow. Last month alone Gaylord signed John Riegger (PGA Tour player), Charlotte Mayorkas (LPGA Tour) and Byron Smith (2007 Canadian Tour Player of the Year) to exclusive representation agreements.

* If there’s one thing you look for in an up and coming golfer, its consistent and marked improvement. Australia’s Matt Jones, an Arizona State graduate and Imani Sports client (through its CEO Chris Murray) since 2001, certainly fits the bill. Heading into this weekend the Tour rookie was 6-for-6 in cuts this season, with four finishes in the top 30. After spending roughly five seasons on the Nationwide Tour from 2002-2007, including last season when he finished runner-up four times (the Tour record is five) the 27-year old Jones took center stage this weekend as he battled for his first PGA victory on one of The Tour’s toughest weekly stops at PGA National. Announcers Roger Maltbie and Johnny Miller each rightfully praised Jones for his solid fundamentals and professional demeanor, and it will be interesting to see if Jones can validate his strong play (he finished the event T5) in the weeks and months to come.

* Golf and sportswear designer Linda Hipp announced that her company, LIJA, has selected nine elite LPGA, Futures and Ladies European Tour players to join its unique new sponsorship initiative for 2008 — the Tour Style Leaders program. Based on a variety of factors — including previous performance and on-course style, as well as a brief essay on how golf has impacted their lives — the nine professionals chosen to participate are Marisa Baena, Courtney Erdman, Jennifer Greggain, Jimin Kang, Leta Lindley, Brenda McLarnon, Jane Park, Georgina Simpson and Christina Kim, who partnered with the brand last season. As Style Leaders, each woman will receive an expansive selection of LIJA products to wear on- and off-course throughout the 2008 season, including an array of tops, bottoms, sweaters, outerwear and accessories.

* Fresh off of her Octagon to IMG switch, Natalie Gulbis has redesigned her website. According to the people at thegolfblog.com, “the site was designed by the Tenth Floor and looks really sharp. They have a video section, but just one cool compilation video so far. Natalie’s blog is still there, but no new entries yet.”