Invisible Agents in Times of Crisis

With news breaking about the New England Patriot’s tight-end Aaron Hernandez being investigated for murder, it once again seems like sports agents have dropped the ball. Every time athletes find themselves in a crisis, their respective agents are nowhere to be seen or heard from.  While an agent puts on many hats, a publicist can be one of the most important roles and is often the most overlooked. 

Since many agents have legal backgrounds, they know that it is usually in the athlete’s best interest to refrain from making public comments when faced with legal issues. These same agents should also take into consideration the athlete’s future as far as endorsements, public opinion and employment when legal issues arise. Agents should be in “damage control” mode and should be doing everything they can to control what stories the media releases.  By giving the media enough details, they will have enough information to write an informed story instead of assuming the worst and making up their own stories.  At the very least, these agents should be telling the public not to jump to conclusions (and to keep telling them) according to the attorney for Ray Lewis’ murder trial. This would prevent at least some members of the media and a part of the general public from assuming the worst-case scenario.  It may also save a few endorsements from severing ties with the athlete along with future endorsement money. In Hernandez's case, he lost his first endorsement shortly after the news broke.

A player’s legal council will almost always instruct their client to not speak about the situation.  That leaves only one of two people who can and should speak about the situation, the lawyer and the agent.  Often times, this will be the same person.  By instructing a player to remain quiet and then having the legal team/agent remain quiet, there is no positive information reaching the media and public.  This lack of positive or neutral information will only allow the negative information to reach the public which will in turn, influence their opinions negatively.

Since the Super Bowl ended on February 3^rd, 27 NFL players have been arrested (as of June 26^th).  In all 27 cases, their agents have not made an immediate statement to the public about their innocence or encouragement for them to not pass judgment until all the facts are out.

Misunderstood NFL Endorsement Market

The responsibilities of an NFL agent became widely known thanks to the movie Jerry Maguire. Aside from finding employment for players and negotiating playing contracts, agents must also procure endorsement deals and personal appearances. This marketing aspect of the business is commonly misunderstood and can be far more difficult than one might think. For the NFL’s best players, this can be very easy but for the rest of the players, it can be nearly impossible. Relative to other sports, football players often find it more difficult to land endorsements and speaking engagements.

According to Sports Pro Media, there is only one football player in the World’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes. Athletes of varying sports from team sports such as soccer and basketball to individual sports such as tennis and golf dominate the list. It even has multiple cricket and motorsports athletes. One of the main reasons football players aren’t as marketable is recognition. Only the NFL’s best players and key position players such as quarterbacks are ever shown with their helmets off. This makes it difficult for fans to recognize them outside of the football stadium. According to National Football Post’s Jack Bechta, players that aren’t talking to the media after every game or at every practice will not be able to gain the necessary recognition that companies seeking to endorse athletes require because they are under the helmet during games. Football players often have shorter careers than other athletes so gaining the needed notoriety is often more difficult.

There are many more issues that can make endorsement deals hard to come by such as a player’s character or even another athlete’s character. When a major athlete has character issues, it hurts the marketability of all athletes in all sports.  This became very evident after Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong had their dirty laundry aired in public. Companies quickly withdrew their endorsements and were very hesitant to seek out new players to endorse. A player’s position, lack of talent relative to other teammates and his team’s performance are also issues. While a feel good story like Jerry Maguire might entice some agents to the business, reality will eventually set in and endorsement deals may seem like a distant dream.