At the time, I was pissed.  I had pumped money into Rulon’s travel and the start of his training, only for him to leave my company for someone else.  It also gave me a bad impression of Caric, although, now I realize that he probably had no ill will.  I think it is important to realize that just because a player leaves an agent, that does not mean that it was a case of client stealing.  In fact, Caric had no obligation to be cordial after the switch, yet he went out of his way to even pay back a portion of the money we laid out for Rulon prior to his switch.

Thus, I have great pleasure in seeing Caric’s rise up the ranks as a football agent.  He and his company were recently favorably featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.  The article talks about his current NFL clients and his five NFL Draft eligible clients, including University of Washington’s Mason Foster, who is likely to be a 2nd or 3rd rounder.  Not bad for a guy who started his own company only 3 years ago.  And about working out of Las Vegas…

Operating a sports agency in Las Vegas has its benefits.

“Clients love to come here. It’s a great place to entertain,” Caric said.

Steve Caric Making His Mark In Las Vegas from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Baseball

• Dan Leatherman – Last night, he picked up the win for the Potomac Nationals.  His final line was: 3.2 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.  This improves him to 2-0 with a 5.32 ERA on the season with the High A Potomac Nationals.  Leatherman has not walked a batter in his last 7 outings, which spans 12.2 innings.
• Pete Parise – Parise threw 2 perfect innings (1 K) in Springfield’s loss last night.  Parise has now thrown 11.1 consecutive scoreless frames over his last 8 outings and has a 0.59 ERA over his last 10 outings.  His season ERA is 2.86 in 34.2 IP (26 K’s).  We showed you a powerpoint slide on him yesterday.  His stat line has only gotten better since.
• Kyle Gunderson – Recently, Hi-A Jupiter placed Kyle on the reserve list.  Kyle is healthy and looking forward to returning back to the active list soon.  The Marlins put him on the reserve list as a precautionary measure to give his back some rest.  Since joining the Jupiter Hammerheads in a trade for Logan Kensing, Gunderson has a WHIP and ERA of 0.90 in 10 IP.
• Kyle McPherson – In his last 4 starts, McPherson has 3 wins and 1 no-decision. In the 22.1 IP over that span, Kyle has racked up 13 K’s and only walked 2 batters.  His overall record on the year with the West Virginia Power is 4-1.
• Ryan Kelly – R.Kelly has provided solid relief for the West Virginia Power thus far.  His ERA is sitting at 3.06.  When A-Rod was making his way back to the majors with rehab assignments, he could not get a hit off of R. Kelly.
• Brendan Murphy – Brendan got off to a scorching hot start with the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League, but has cooled off a bit ever since.  He still has 2 HR in 8 games played, along with 6 RBI.
• The rest of our boys: Tommy Johnson, Nick Czyz, Ben Billingsley, and Zach Rosenbaum are doing very well in Extended Spring Training and will be on their respective teams’ Short Season A teams.

Bowling

• Our latest bowling client is Jason Belmonte.  He is currently in his home of Australia making the rounds with the press, but will be back in the U.S. shortly to bowl in the PBA’s Summer Series.  We have big plans for Belmo.  In the meantime, become a fan on his Facebook page.

Football

• Rulon Davis is doing well with the Denver Broncos.  The team needs all the help it can get on Defense and Rulon is just the type of guy who can give them that edge they so desperately need.
• Andrew Johnson had a very successful mini-camp tryout with the Cleveland Browns, but unfortunately, was not retained by the team.  We are now searching for other options for Drew.
• Kevin Grant is considering various options, but we still believe that he belongs in the NFL.  We continue to find the right fit for the former 4-year Akron LB.

Basketball

• We have recently added a bunch of new clients including, Terrrance Woodbury (leading scorer at UGA for the past 2 years), John Gilchrist (former standout at University of Maryland), and Jamarcus Ellis (University of Indiana – named Honorable Mention All Big-Ten).  All of them are receiving considerable interest in the United States (NBA/NBDL) and overseas.

Coaches

• Been working on a new website.  Jason and I have been given important positions in a particular coaches association.  More information will be posted in the near future.

Entertainment

• Hopefully you know about the new EntertainmentAgentBlog.com.  The new site alone, has allowed us to receive more leads for our clients.  Additionally, we are starting to move away from being “agents” to our clients, to taking on more of a managerial role.

Dynasty Notes – Part 14 from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Football

• A big-time Gator is on the market [Taylor, set to make $6M, cut by Jags].
• A lot of talk that Thomas Mills got Hayden a really nice deal [Hayden, Colts strike deal].

Baseball

• The guy is only 26-years-old and averages a strikeout per inning pitched [Santana avoids arbitration with Angels].
• Gotta love the amount of deals that are struck in the final hour [Pirates, McLouth agree to 3-year deal].
• Should we be blaming the MLBPA instead? [Commish doesn't want steroids blame]

Sports Agents

• For our readers overseas [Superagents” reality TV show to launch in UK this week].
• Doug Eldridge of DLE Sports Management Group is trying to raise $100k [Reginald T. Dogan: Racer makes strides for wounded vets].

Basketball

• The story on Anthony Randolph switching agents made the latest Carnival [Carnival of the NBA #63: Stress Relief].
• The Chicago Bulls have been very active lately [Knicks trade for Bulls' Hughes].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (2/20/09) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Kevin Grant: Quiet Iron Man’s Hard Work on and off the Field May Get Him a Shot

“I don’t think that playing at a small school has affected me too much, other than the fact that I might be sneaking up on some people,” Kevin says, with a persistent attitude that again reflects his will to succeed, even when faced with the confusing issue of getting ignored despite his on-the-field accomplishments. “If anything, people might say, ‘Hey, this guy is a lot better than I realized’ [once they see me play].”

Rulon Davis is Tough, Mean, and Not Ready to Give Up NFL Dream

And what would he say to these naysayers?

“I wouldn’t say a damn thing,” says Davis. “As long as they see me next year ballin’, and say ‘Aw damn, we should have drafted that guy.’ That to me is payback enough. If people are doubting me out there, that’s fine. Just wait and see what happens next year.”

Kevin Grant And Rulon Davis Featured On Bleacher Report from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The NFL has realeased its official 2009 NFL Scouting Combine Schedule and List of Players invited.  Rulon is in Group 7, which does not officially report until February 20th.  Kevin was left out of a very small pool of invited linebackers.  Only 27 linebackers, total, were invited.  Of those 27 LBs, a mere 13 of them are ILBs like Grant.  Many of the men invited as ILBs have no chance of replicating or beating the numbers Grant is going to put up at his Pro Day.

If you want to apply for Media Credentials for the Combine, click here.  I won’t be at the show, but there is always next year!  Who do you think will be the Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie of this year’s combine?

The NFL Combine Is Exactly Two Weeks Away from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

• He arrived in Florida yesterday and is now residing in South Florida, training at Athletes Advantage.
• He has been formally invited to participate in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Game.  We are still awaiting word on the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl. along with the NFL Combine. At 9:06 a.m. EST, I had the pleasure of hearing the great news that Rulon has been invited to the NFL Combine!  This is great news that we will all be celebrating.
  
• Rulon had a fantastic interview with Gregory Cox of TheFootballExpert.com that is now posted on that website.
• Rulon’s 2nd Yardbarker post is up.  Go check out his first ru-ism.

Rulon Davis Update from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Yardbarker has plenty of big name professional athletes blogging on its platform, but Rulon Davis has broken ground by becoming the first college football blogger in the yard.  Rulon is currently enjoying some down time in Texas before we fly him out to Florida to begin his training later this week.  He just wrote his first piece for Yardbarker.  Go on over to check it out, bark it up, and leave a comment for The Beast.

Rulon Davis Is In The Yard from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Rulon Davis #94 California Bears DE

Dynasty Football 2009 NFL Draft Prospect

Rulon Davis, son of Sylvia and Lorenzo Davis, is a 6’5, 281-pound, senior defensive end for the California Golden Bears.  Rulon has great size, football instincts, and intelligence and has matured well beyond his years.

Growing up in San Diego, CA, Rulon attended Charter Oak High School in Covina, California in 2001, where he played on the offensive line.   After high school, he served in the Marines for more than three years.  He was an avionics technician in the Marines, where he matured and learned about leadership, preparation and teamwork, all of which are qualities that he brings onto the football field. Once his three years as a Marine were up, Davis was sent to Iraq for a six-month tour of duty.

Upon arriving back on American soil, Davis was anxious to get back to playing football. Rulon attended and played for Mt. San Antonio College as a freshman in 2004.  He helped Mt. SAC’s defense earn a No. 11 ranking in California, giving up only 251.9 yards per game. Rulon “the beast” had 32 tackles and 16.5 sacks as a freshman on a 10-2 team that advanced to the second round of postseason. Despite sitting out much of his next season, Rulon was still rated as the 21st best junior-college prospect in the country by Rivals.com in 2005.

Rulon ultimately decided to stay close to home and attended the University of California-Berkeley where he double majored in Sociology and African-American studies along with accumulating many football accolades.

In his first season as a Bear, he competed in six games before missing the last half of the season due to illness and injury (bone bruise in leg).  Davis recorded five tackles, including three against Arizona State where he also had a half tackle for loss.

The following season, Rulon was penciled in as a starter at defensive end and a key contributor on defense.  By the end of the season he tallied 16 tackles with three for loss, including 1.5 sacks, despite missing seven games throughout the season with a foot injury.  After missing four early games, Davis made an immediate impact upon his returned against Arizona State and recorded three tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble, before leaving the game with a knee injury and missing the next three outings. Davis recorded a sack on his first snap and forced a fumble with his second sack, setting up a 13-yard touchdown return. Rulon returned against Stanford and tallied three more tackles, one for loss to help Cal win and take back the traditional axe.  He showed his desire and determination to get healthy and get back to dominating on the defense line.

“The Beast” recorded the top vertical jump of all-time for a Cal defensive lineman at 34.5 inches. He continues to impress coaches and scouts and is a leader on a strong Bears defense.

Overall, Rulon is an extremely mature and talented athlete.  He has superb size and physical features that go great with his quickness off the line.  Rulon’s Marine service has allowed him to mature beyond that of a normal college football player.  His 40 times range from 4.9-5.2, which he will improve with training, while his numbers in the weight room remain stellar.  Davis put on a big performance in the Emerald Bowl, showing that he is one of the top DE’s in college football this season.  He was hurrying Jacory Harris throughout the game, totally interrupting Miami’s pass offense.  Rulon is viewed as one of the top 40 Defensive Ends in the 2009 Draft class, and will rise up the ranks as teams notice that his injuries are behind him, he is physically fit to play at the next level, and has a wonderful character.  He also has tons of experience playing in a 3-4 scheme, so teams that line up in such a defensive formation should be high on Davis.

We are extremely excited about adding Rulon to the Dynasty family.  Go ahead and check out his new website: www.RulonTheBeast.com.

Dynasty Signs First 2009 NFL Draft Prospect: Rulon Davis from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules