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.
Not many proven back-ups but a very solid front 4... hope it's not any of them!
would have me think Kareem Walker. Bigger name. Missed a lot of last year. This is based on no information whatsoever - just a guess.
Hope whoever it is works through their issues.
Interesting post, OP, thanks for sharing.
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Enjoyed the post. Getting a different perspective is always interesting.
My guess is its Kugler that is going to bail. He saw a bunch of guys that beat him out not get drafted.
Kugler will probably be the starting center for the season opener.
OP said "not on the OL"
I don't recall him making "bad decisions in High School."
My guess is it's Yuri Wright. /s
info jived with the info that I've gotten from a couple of NFL scouts who I know. They really think that he's not as good in coverage that many people want to believe he is and there is a reason why he moved up into the box instead of away from the box with his type of athleticism. Despite his good agility time (Michigan pro day), they think he's tight in his hip or ankles which doesn't allow him to change direction quickly against quicker WRs (there is a reason why coaches don't have him cover quick slot WR after him getting burned by Utah's slot WR).
Perhaps, but our lbs were far less talented than our safeties last year. It made sense in that regard to add him to that group and give it a different dynamic. I can't imagine that he will be asked to handle a ton of coverage on slots in man coverage, etc at the next level.
Peppers is too thick. I think that's why a lot of people assumed he would be a running back in college or even the NFL. I think he would be okay playing safety is he's playing the deep middle or if he were playing a deep half of the field, but yeah, he's going to get picked on in man coverage.
yep thats one of many reasons i never bought the woodson comparison. woodson was a longer, leaner and explosive yet much smoother athlete. peppers is a more compact explosive ball of muscle - great player, great athlete but id never describe his game as smooth. and that can translate to weaknesses in coverage and whatnot - though hes so gifted in other areas that weakness should be covered up or offset in proper schemes
who thinks his best position is at RB. He's a natural runner and he is at his best going forward, not backward.
I think it's smarter to use Peppers' athleticism on the defensive side of the ball simply due to the value you get on defense compared to a pretty replaceable position such as RB.
I don't like the Mathieu comparisons because Mathieu was already playing a hybrid role in college, seems to be better in read-and-react, and has better balls skills. Perhaps Peppers can develop some of those over time becuase he's very raw there at the moment.
But the Mathieu comparisons are good in that it shows what a unique type of player can do if he goes to the right team that uses him correctly. (See PFF article on Mathieu usage). To me, if the Browns approach this as "we have a chess piece and we're going to view him like that" then Peppers could be successful playing a hybrid type of role (even if he doesn't have the same cover skills Mathieu does - which is my opinion). But you have to commit to that, and not try to force Peppers into something he's not.
a closer comparison for Peppers
Eric Berry was so much better in coverage than Peppers is it's hilarious.
Peppers may not cover well enough to play safety in the NFL. Berry covers well enough you can use him in spot duty at cornerback in the NFL.
They're similar physically (Berry has longer arms by a few inches), but - I'm a Kansas City fan so I watch a ton of Berry in addition to watching a ton of Peppers. Berry was one of the best safeties to come in in the past decade and now is "elite" in coverage as a a safety in my opinion. And he was well-regarded in coverage coming out of college.
Peppers may be able to do it, but he's still raw right now because he was not extensively asked to do it in college. That also gives us very little to evaluate. I don't think you can expect him to come in and play like Berry did right away.
His 40 was obviously impressive when compared to similar type of "hybrid" safeties (40 Simulcast v Clinton-Dix, Thomas, Mathieu). But in terms of the areas people criticize Peppers (opening his hips, etc.), having a 3-cone or a 20 yard shuttle would have been a huge help, but he didn't run either of those.
I'm of the opinion that one of these two scenarios plays out: (1) Cleveland uses him correctly he'll develop and be a pretty successful pro; or (2) Cleveland misuses him, he's considered a bust or underperformer, he signs his second contract with a team that knows how to use him, and he does well after his first contract.
Thanks for the info man. Hopefully the Peppers stuff doesn't amount to much and is just speculation. Loved Peppers as a player and I am really happy to have him on my Browns. I think Greg Williams is probably the perfect coach for him at the next level.
The Jury's out on Peppers. The defense is going to have to be designed in a way that he fits (something like the Viper.) I agree with Magnus that he is never going to be a good cover corner in the NFL. He is too small to be an ILB/MLB and not quick/shifty enough to be a corner. On the right team with the right scheme, he could do some safety, some LB. Certainly return duties. I think to play RB, he would have to have a lot more mastery of the playbook.
I also think that Peppers is going to have to grow up, and that's totally on him.
OLB Buchanon of Arizona to me
a definite talent but not sure he really fits any one position other then a returner. I think he will be a player Cleveland will try to maximize his talents in several different ways. I think he could play some offense in different packages as a RB sometimes a slot and occassionally in wildcat and might even throw a pass every now and then.
I also think he will play some SS and maybe slide down into the box occassionally as a viper/LB type position. But not sure he will ever just be a safety and definitely not a corner. But his talent is definitely there and it will be interesting to see how it gets used at the next level.
Both in content of the original post and some of the commentariot who are "nuggets." Thanks for sharing, Kass.
I'll guess it's someone like Devin Bush or Chris Evans, as they are people who probably haven't quite gotten the hang of college yet and are prominent players on the team.
Do you have evidence to substantiate this or are you just throwing shit against the wall?
Devin Bush's father is on the coaching staff and Chris Evans spends much of his free time coaching and scouting youth football (including early morning hours), so I wouldn't think either of those guys are having off the field issues.
"My nephew does not represent Peppers." It was a long post, but yeah, he doesn't rep Peppers, and I don't think he would want to rep Peppers.
I do know that drinking too much water will give a dilute sample. And every stinking agent knows that. I'd prefer not to speculate on what Peppers did or did not do. But I wonder . . . where there's smoke, there's fire.
Actually, this is really good for Peppers in most ways. He can't use the "drank too much water" reasoning ever again. And with random drug tests, he is going to have to stay clean as a whistle. Which is a good thing!
Seems like Bosa turned down the Particpation Agreement after a day of OTA last year. I think you'll see more rookies refusing team-related workouts without a contract. We can huff all we want, but I wouldn't work without a contract.
I didn't say anything about the NFL drug policy.
The hell? I was only addressing the issue of working without a contract.
was being a dick to him in contract negotation in finalizing contract language. Bosa was right to hold out. Bosa's rookie year was super impressive considering he missed training camp, preseason and first part of the season. He was dominant at DE.
A few things:
1. My old boss's brother-in-law is a big time MLB agent. We played in a golf outing together and rolled up in a Lambo. Anyways, he says most time is spent ironing out personal problems of the players such as explaining to the wife why her husband isn't answering his phone while on the road at 11:30 pm.
2. About Peppers: He is an Alpha Male. Alpha's will rub a lot of people the wrong way. Harbaugh is an Alpha male. One thing Pepper's did that was extremely important to the program was bring some "swag" back to it. It was non-existent under Hoke.
3. My wild ass guess of the player who might leave is TJ Wheatley. I think there's way more to this story regarding his dad then we know about.
Definitely yes to number 1. It was killing my nephew not to be on his cell phone, and to be out of contact, because he has to do a fair amount of babysitting. I didn't really think about it, but maybe he likes Michigan guys that he doesn't have to babysit all the time because they make good decisions.
Sounds like the character the Rock plays on Ballerz (HBO show about a sports agent).
I think Wheatley is the guy who want's out. I sure hope not however that is the first name that popped into my head. I hope I'm wrong!
I know you're just a messenger but your Peppers info is bad. Everyone in Schembechler loves Jabrill, and he played Viper this year becuase the alternative was to put Noah Furbush in the starting lineup and bench one of Dymonte or Delano. That wasn't happening. They werent trying to hide anything. Remember he played nickel in 2015 and had 10 PBU's. And to attack his character and say he was unprofessional is not only wrong but it's out of line. I'm sure your nephew is a good guy, but he's also human and a buckeye at heart. And no one is more obsessed with Peppers than OSU fans.
I'm sure you're partially right.
- My nephew doesn't have anyone in Schembechler Hall as a source, so I could believe that everyone there loves him.
- His source is a client who was on the team. Could have been sour grapes? Jealousy? A rival? Hard to say. Maybe the Michigan player thought he was better in coverage than Peppers? Hard to say. I guess we'll find out when we see Peppers coverage skills in the NFL.
- Regarding Peppers' character, as I said, I personally wouldn't know. Neither would my nephew. I know that some of the character/professionalism comments about Peppers came from his behavior at the combine, and the source was a Michigan player. (my nephew was not at the combine, so this is third hand info. From a Michigan player, to my nephew, to me.)
- My nephew did not make any comments whatsoever about alleged substance abuse by Peppers. Nor about venereal disease. Nor about his not playing in the Bowl Game this year or last year. He did comment that any agent and Peppers himself should have worked harder to avoid a dilute urinalysis sample. I will say that I have a family member who has learned the hard way about urinalysis and not over diluting with water, and it isn't that hard to avoid. But I would personally give Peppers the benefit of the doubt.
you just spent one helluva lot of time talking like you knew stuff because of your connections, to now say , well i really dont have any real inside information and neither does my nephew. what a bunch of useless speculation.
He was pretty clear in the original post about what he was passing along. He hasn't contradicted himself.
- I have only one connection . . . my nephew.
- He represents several former Michigan football players as their agent. So I can say pretty definitively that he thinks highly of them, and that they represent well.
- He also represents at least one former OSU player who is a pain in the rear.
- You can't fully extrapolate from several Michigan players to the whole Michigan team, nor from one OSU player to all the Buckeyes. But in general, my nephew has a very good feel for Michigan, Michigan players, and for Coach Harbaugh.
- The Peppers stuff, as I said elsewhere, had to do largely with what a Michigan player (or players) said to my nephew about Peppers' coverage skills. It also had to do with what a Michigan player (or players) said to my nephew about Peppers' behavior and actions at the combine. As I've tried to make clear, this is based on the report of a Michigan player (or players.) My nephew didn't say, but this player has known Peppers for the last three years. It may be sour grapes or jealousy of Peppers. It may be that Peppers "alpha maleness" rubbed this guy the wrong way. It may be that Peppers' swagger didn't always translate into fumbles caused or interceptions or touchdowns scored. I don't know. I truly hope that Peppers has a long and successful career with the Browns.
- My last bullet point, about a current player on the team, was also based on things said by my nephew's client (or clients) about that same player. There's no way those clients would know definitively what will happen in the future. And as I've said above, it is my personal hope that this player gets his act together and succeeds in life. He is still on the roster. I will just say, from experience with the bad choices of my own son, that once you've made bad choices, you are on a short leash. You are under more scrutiny. You in a sense have "two strikes against you." You can still succeed, but it has gotten a lot harder.
Just because one guy decided to skim your post and miss critical information.
You've been very upfront about the sources of information (to the extent possible), and your sharing this is very much appreciated.
"And no one is more obsessed with Peppers than OSU fans."
What about staee fans?