NFL Agent (my nephew) speaks well of his Michigan Player Clients
This last weekend, I attended a family social event in the south. One of my nephews is a lawyer and a certified NFL agent. With his partner, he represents and is retained by a number of recent Michigan grads, including some in the current 2017 draft, as well as undrafted free agents. We always jaw a bit: he got his undergraduate degree from OSU, and played ball at a high level prior to injury.
Representing NFL athletes is only part of his practice. However, it takes a significant amount of time and energy. I learned a lot more about what it is to be an agent. Negotiation on contracts is something that takes relatively little time. A lot more goes into recruiting more clients, and into betting on and bankrolling and babysitting guys who are preparing for the draft. Someone has to help them with life skills and not flaming out and not blowing upfront everything they're supposedly going to make. Someone has to pay for all the costs associated with training, coaching, travel, living expenses, and the like, from January through the draft. An agent helps pay for all of that, with the return being a percentage of that player's contract, if they are fortunate enough to sign with a team. In a sense, an agent drafts a real life fantasy football team. How successful an agent is depends partially on how well he assesses whether or not someone will be successful in the League.
In our discussion, he mentioned several things I found fascinating.
- Michigan grads in general carry themselves very well. He greatly enjoys representing them, and they are among his better clients. He would say that every single Michigan player he personally serves as an agent is a great guy. (I would love to mention names, but don't feel comfortable doing that. Let's just say that some were starters who just graduated, and some have graduated in the last 2 - 3 years.)
- This is in contrast to some athletes from OSU, who are a pain in the rear. From my nephew's perspective, there really is a Michigan difference.
- From his perspective, Urban Meyer and Nick Saban are really just all about the winning, and less about caring for the student athlete. For them, football is just a business. Harbaugh, in contrast, cares about his players, and about having fun. Yes, Harbaugh wants to work hard and to win. But not at all costs. Athletes aren't just to be disposed of and cast off because they've been injured or passed up on the depth chart.
- It isn't that Michigan won't ever beat OSU or 'Bama. It is just that Harbaugh is doing it a different way. He isn't so mercenary about it, and cavalier about the lives of Michigan athetes.
- My nephew's theory on why Harbaugh is different (than Meyer or Saban) is that Harbaugh has already achieved a great amount of success financially and otherwise. That being the case, Harbaugh has more freedom to do exactly what he wants to do. Personally, I think it has to be more than that. After all, Meyer and Saban both have achieved a lot of success, and have plenty of money. Nonetheless, the Rome trip and some of the other things he does leads me to believe that Harbaugh really is different, and that he really does want to put "student" back in "student athlete."
- Whatever the reason, the climate, while very competitive at Michigan, is much less about throwing people under the bus when they don't fit perfectly.
- I have gotten the impression from my nephew that Michigan is a place with a lot of high character guys, with a high level of professionalism. And these guys really appreciate being students at Michigan. I get the sense that high character guys generally appreciate each other, whether they go to OSU or Michigan or Wisconsin or Stanford or an SEC school. I do get the sense that there are a few guys at Michigan who don't get it, but the number is not very high.
- My nephew does not represent Peppers. However, he claims that at least one of his Michigan clients indicated Peppers was not capable of playing safety at the highest level. The move to viper/nickel/LB was necessitated in order to cover over Peppers' shortcomings. He also claimed that some Michigan athletes were put off by how Peppers carried himself and how he was part of the team. The suggestion was that Peppers didn't have as high a level of professionalism as he should. It is a moot point now. And I wouldn't know a thing myself. I don't hang around any current or former Michigan athletes. I can't prove or stand behind why my nephew said about Peppers (other than vouching for my nephew's own professionalism and character.) However, I think there is more to the Peppers story than most of us know or have heard about. And coaches and insiders and players are largely keeping that to themselves.
- My nephew also has the opinion that it is reasonably unlikely one current prominent player sticks with the team (will tell you the individual in question is not a QB, and not Gary.) I can't say much more, but it helps me put some of the pieces together. From a distance, I think the coaching staff does what they can to help football players make good decisions. Unfortunately, some guys made bad decisions in High School, and maybe assume they can do the same thing in college. Sometimes, with a strong support system, they get their act together. Sometimes, unfortunately, they never can break free.
It was fascinating to have the curtain pulled back a bit. And it made me proud to know that a number of Michigan players represent themselves and Michigan so well.
It's a nice thought and one I support, but I would be very surprised if your vote is heeded.
Malzone
S. Johnson
Perry
as people not likely to be on the roster this fall
so if it is one of those 3 then it would not be something most have not already heard
As I've said above, I won't narrow it down further. However, if you read my comments, I already said the following: Not a QB, or Gary, or on the OL, or in the secondary. Which applies to some of the names in your trio. I want to see the kid make it (actually want to see ALL of them make it,) so I don't want to bring further attention to any of them by narrowing things down.
is not the person you are referring to (QB, obviously) but the other 2 still fit the positions not mentioned and I was just mentioning those 3 names have been out there for a while (UMBig11 I think was the source)
so hopefully your name is one of the other 2 and we're not losing additional people
on the bright side, a few walk-ons will probably get scholarships for a year
Regarding Malzone, he didn't come up in the conversation at all. I do suspect he might be gone from the team, but that's just from stuff I read here at mgoblog. I would have no way of knowing. I guess it is possible he sticks around and does a lot as a scout team QB, or switches positions? I have to believe that guys like Malzone see the writing on the wall and aren't delusional when they are playing next to Speight and Peters, etc.
I think you need to refresh your memory and go back for another listen...I LOVE Kareem in that interview
I came away from that interview thinking he was a future tranfer candidate. I'm not saying I hope it happens. That was my impression.
I didn't think of this when I posted earlier but did you feel the same way after you heard the Justin Feagin interview? They pretty similar.
Wow, there's a name I haven't heard in a while. How would any of us have any recollection of a Sam Webb interview with him? Unless there's something recent for whatever reason.
I apologize. I have a bizarre memory.
Who?
He most certainly did not go "apeshit." IIRC, he was just taken aback when a student aggresively approached and began to touch him. If anything, what I took away from that interview is that Kareem handled himself quite well.
could be wrong but multiple people have already stated malzone and johnson will not return (unless something changes) and perry may struggle to make it back
Throwing someone under the bus of suspicion* that may stick to him regardless of innocence.
*overwrought phrasing/weird metaphor
thanks for sharing. really appreciate it
I have it on good authority that the player who might leave early is one Tacopants. I know, I know. Don't shoot the messenger.
Where is this notion that Peppers is a tweener coming from? He's the exact same size as Eric Berry and the NFL has been valuing hybrid like players more and more every year.
"I think that you are definitely seeing a strong trend in the league towards corners that play safety or corner-type athletes that play safety, bigger safeties that play linebacker. Both of those are trends," Belichick said during the draft.
"We’ve always put a lot of premium on the passing game even going back to when we had Eugene Wilson [second round, 2003], who played corner at Illinois, and started for us at corner for a couple weeks and then we moved him to free safety, but that was an advantage when teams went to the multiple receivers. Then we already had that third corner on the field and we could go nickel or we could leave our regular defense out there, or leave our corner on the third receiver, what we call penny defense. That was pretty successful for us."
Fast forward to the current team and that dynamic is still in play.
"Devin [McCourty’s] given us some of that, so has [Patrick] Chung," Belichick said. "Devin’s a corner and not that Chung is a corner, but he has corner qualities, he’s had some corner-type responsibilities, particularly in the slot, even going back to when Wes [Welker] was here and he would cover Wes pretty competitively in practice sessions. I’d say that has always been something that, if you have a player that can do that, somewhat appealing."
Belichick reflected on veteran safety Rodney Harrison as another player who fit into that hybrid category, as he "was a very good coverage safety even though he was big and physical, and he played the run as well as anybody. He could also cover the run and that’s very unusual and that made him very special. You could literally match up on anybody, receivers, tight ends, blitz him, play him on goal line. He could do it all. He was tremendous."
The increased value that some teams are placing on hybrid players is a result of how offenses have become more spread out, putting more skill-position players on the field (which means defenses are playing more substitution defense). On top of that, as Belichick sees it, "Tight ends have become more athletic and less of the conventional kind of power-blocking type guys" and thus "those matchups keep getting tougher and tougher."
Add it all up, and it's why more teams are valuing safeties who have corner-like skills, or linebackers with safety-type skills.
"You see less of the big run-stopping Ted Johnson, Brandon Spikes type players," Belichick said. "It’s just harder when the offense spreads you out and then they go fast and you can’t substitute and you’re stuck with whoever you have out there. That creates some problems.
"The colleges are seeing the same thing and they probably have to deal with it more than we do because there are so many fast-tempo offenses where they put a lot of fast guys on the field. So they are in the same boat playing a lot of what we call dime defense, or little nickel, or whatever it is. Ends are playing tackle, safeties are playing linebacker, and corners are playing safety. It’s just kind of getting a little bit smaller in a lot of areas."
My outsider impression is that Peppers was one of the leaders of the team. And I always had the sense from watching interactions on the sidelines that his teammates responded well to him.
One of the more informative and interesting reads on here in a while, especially in a quiet time.
I also agree that speculation on the projected departure is unproductive with no real upside.
character but also a tip of the hat to Hoke, who brought these guys in and set them on the right path.
I still think it's slightly weird that Peppers went or was told to go to the pressbox during the Orange Bowl.
Just my $0.02 on the difference between Harbaugh, Saban and Meyer...
I believe that Jim looks at coaching from a player's perspective first -- and he looks back at his time as a player and tries to replicate the great traits that he saw in coaches, and downplay / eliminate the negative traits he saw in coaches. He is always thinking about how his actions will get the most out of players in order to be successful.
On the other hand, I believe Saban and Meyer look back on great coaches they saw when they were coming up and try to replicate the traits that they feel were most responsible for coaches having success and downplay / eliminate those that did not create success. Coaches like Saban and Meyer are always thinking about how they can be the most successful coaches / stewards of the program and thereby get the most out of their players and provide them opportunities to be successful.
Both paths can obviously lead to success, but I am admittedly biased and prefer the JH approach.
It's been awhile, but a good friend of mine's uncle represents a prominent NFL Quarterback. I haven't talked the him in awhile, but I know he felt similarly about Alabama players. The reason alot of them don't pan out is because they aren't as adjusted going into the NFL. It's all about winning with Saban. I should note, that Nick Saban is paid by Alabama to win college football games, so I don't want to make it an indictment on him.
The Peppers stuff kinda makes sense? I read an interesting article about him in SI/ESPN where he typically only hangs out with his fraternity brothers, so it makes sense if he was a little estranged from the team? I don't really know what to read about that though.
Wild guess on the player departure: Ty Wheatley Jr. or Kareem Walker.
I have seen since I enrolled.
Thanks, StephenR
from first hand experience (good character kids who go to class), but...
Harbaugh is not THAT different than Meyer or Saban (insanely competitive and big ego). He was able to get different type of players (such as Gary appears to be) at Stanford. Many of the difference maker/ 5 star guys needed to win championships need babysitters due to their backgrounds and the fact they have gotten away with everything since they were the best athlete on the field at age 5. Practically all of the UM walk ons and three star guys who work their butts off for PT and have realistic post collegiate expectations ,"get it", are polite and represent our university extremely well.
This season will be very interesting for Harbaugh and UM. We may have a better team and a worse record due to SOS and heavy turnover from graduation. Winning a division title will be very difficult. Don't beat OSU or win the title (God forbid MSU) and the pressure will be sky high to recruit the type of player that is mainly about getting to the NFL. We are not THAT different than other top tier programs. A 5th year player's, who transferred under good terms, parent told me "everyone sees the sausage that is Michigan football, we see how it is made".
I think you hit the nail on the head:
Many of the difference maker/ 5 star guys needed to win championships need babysitters due to their backgrounds and the fact they have gotten away with everything since they were the best athlete on the field at age 5
I suspect that there are a few more of those "difference maker / 5 star" guys at OSU than at Michigan. And guys like Gary don't really fit in that category. And guys like that come to visit Michigan and it isn't really their culture.
While JH wants great players, he and the coaching staff might really try to minimize recruiting guys that are very entitled and immature. I think that was what my nephew was implying with his comment about the irritation involved in taking care of a particular OSU player.
I'm curious what you think of the upcoming season. If Michigan stays healthy, and has very good QB play (along with the new WR group), I could see them winning a lot. It would be ideal to beat both MSU and OSU, which would take a little of the pressure off.
Our fanbase, like many others, is not the most patient group... if we win the East which means we likely beat OSU, then Harbaugh will continue to pee the Mississippi. Is it possible? Certainly.
I really think we will be a better team next season, especially come November with our O lIne, but I see two or three loses including OSU ( who should be playing for the NC). Beating MSU will not be a cakewalk by any stretch but I see a home win, especially under the lights.
I also like playing Florida right out of the gate - a solid challenge and we will learn a lot about our team and coaches and how well they are prepared. Florida is butt hurt after our last meeting and they will come out very motivated.
Indeed a cool and interesting story. Thanks for sharing.
Going on record that I agree with the posters speculating about TJ Wheatley. Not only is his dad gone (under some seemingly strange circumstances), but we haven't seen or heard much from him on the field or in the coac-speak practice rundowns.
Let's PLEASE stop speculating.
Nick B. from mlive literally just interviewed Wheatley Jr. a week or two ago. He was also in Rome with the team.
I'm not saying there isn't a chance that he or anyone else on the team leaves, but blindly throwing his name without any fraction of information seems very inappropriate. Let's let things play out.
relax
+1 hahaha whether true or not, that was my initial thought not gonna lie. just wasn't gonna write it here without any proof.
we will all see who it is or is not soon enough. it's only may.
You know this is a message board where we talk about the football team, right?
But sure. I'll stop venturing my opinion on this, since it ultimately doesn't really mean anything.