Capital City Sports Report

Sports Agent In Charge

This former Longhorn football player has turned his dream into a reality. Now he’s trying to do the same for his clients.

Like much of the male population, Jason Atchley considers himself an avid sports fan. Like a true Texan, he loves football. That’s where the similarities stop. Atchley isn’t like the average sports fan. In 1989, instead of attending the University of Texas and going to watch Longhorn football games as a student from the comfort of a seat in Memorial Stadium, Atchley decided to walk on as a cornerback.

Almost 20 years later and Atchley has once again taken his love for the game beyond that of the average fan. Today, instead of watching the games just to see who wins or loses, Atchley is watching to see who could become his next client. He is one of just a few sports agents in Austin. He sat down with CCSR and provided a detailed look at what it’s like to be a sports agent including why and how he get started, what obstacles he has encountered trying to bring on new clients, and why the service he provides as a new agent is as good as those provided by super-agents Drew Rosenhaus or Leigh Steinberg.

In 2001, Jason Atchley faced one of those momentous crossroads in his professional life. After four years of working as a lawyer for several different firms in a variety of different fields, a considerable amount in medical malpractice, Atchley was opening his own law firm. Instead of taking on clients and cases at the direction of a firm, he was going to be making his own decisions about what clients and cases to bring on board. He wasn’t exactly sure where he wanted to focus his efforts as a lawyer.

Around that same time Atchley reconnected with his friend, former University of Texas and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Winfred Tubbs, who was wrapping up a career in the NFL. Atchley and Tubbs were friends back from their playing days at the University of Texas in 1989 and 1990. Atchley, a walk-on cornerback; Tubbs a starting linebacker.

The rekindling of his friendship with Tubbs was exactly what Atchley needed. That relationship plus Atchley’s representation of the metal band, OTEP, including the negotiation of a multi-million dollar deal with Capital Records around that time was the impetus for Atchley to decide and take his practice into the world of sports and entertainment law.

Although he had made the decision that sports and entertainment law was where he wanted to go with his practice and his career, Atchley was realistic about the time it would actually take to become a full-time sports agent. His experience in working with contracts for real estate deals that were worth hundreds of millions of dollars would be extremely valuable, but he would still have to familiarize himself with contracts specific to the NFL. Contracts aside, the most difficult and time-consuming part of becoming a sports agent would be building up his client base. It could not and would not happen overnight.

With a gradual transition over time planned to his new line of work, Atchley remained focused on his current job, which included representation of Tubbs in trying to find him work in television, as well as negotiating numerous real estate deals. Through it all, he always reminded himself that whenever his firm was in a place where he could take the time and apply to become an NFL agent and sit for the agents’ exam, he would do it.

In February 2006, all the stars aligned. Atchley paid the $1,500 fee and applied to take the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) agent’s exam. After years of talking and planning to become a sports agent, the ball was finally rolling, albeit slowly. That’s because the NFLPA didn’t actually administer the test until July.

Initially, Atchley did nothing to prepare for the exam. It was still four-plus months away. The NFLPA, on the other hand, was quite busy as it began looking into Atchley and the 500-600 applicants who applied.

“They do an extensive FBI background check,” Atchley recalled. “They’re real stringent on who they filter out. They check everything from criminal and credit background. They’re not going to let you sit for an exam if you have bad credit. The investigators even call and talk to you. They want to know where you are in your life and where you are in your career.”

Of those who apply, only 100 or so make it through the FBI background check. Atchley was one of them. Several months after filing his application, Atchley began to focus his energy on studying for the test. He prepared like it was a trial.

“I read the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) back and forth. Underlined it. Highlighted it. Briefed it. I went all out on it because there was no way in the world I was not going to pass that thing.”

After the three-day seminar, which included the applicants reviewing each section of the CBA booklet as well as discussing the roles of agents including the hot topics of the day-all things Atchley had studied prior to coming to Washington, D.C.-the 36-year-old Texan confidently stepped into the room on the final day to take the exam. He was well prepared. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for a large number of the 100 other prospective agents who paid the application fee, survived the background check, and traveled to the nation’s capital.

“When you’re in a conference for three days with 100 other people you start talking to them, you get to know them, go to lunch with them. It became very obvious that there were some who were not lawyers and had not prepared for the exam at all, and were just hoping to pass the exam.”

Atchley described two examples.

“I met a gentleman who was a coach from the Deep South. It was right in the middle of off-season training and he was getting ready for two-a-days for the high school team he was coaching and he hadn’t even had a chance to open the CBA book at all to review it. That’s what you’re tested over. It was his second time to take it. He was hoping to pass it.”

Atchley said it was obvious the man was allowed to take the exam because he was a former player from the 1970s. He said while he understands the NFLPA allowing former players to become agents, he finds it somewhat perplexing that individuals are allowed to take the exam who obviously have no previous background with the NFL. He cited a specific example.

“I had three ladies that reminded me of my aunts and grandmother that were sitting behind me in the exam room. They were laughing and having a great time during the exam because they didn’t know any of the answers and they hadn’t prepared for it at all. They were in their late 50s or early 60s. I don’t know if it was just a hobby for them or whatever. They knew they weren’t going to pass it. One of them didn’t even have her CBA book anymore. She had lost it the previous year.”

Atchley said seeing those women, despite the fact that they had pleasant demeanors, was troubling.

“They were really sweet. I just don’t know if they should be representing players in the long run. Obviously, they were not former players.”

While he couldn’t help but notice those around him who did not appear qualified to take the exam, when it came down to taking the actual exam, it was not a distraction. He was completely focused on the task at hand.

“I didn’t miss a single question. I took the four-hour exam in under an hour’s time. It’s an open-book exam. I didn’t even have to open my book at all.”

In August 2006, Atchley along with approximately 50 other applicants received certification as a new agent for the NFLPA.

Life as an Agent

When you ask Jason Atchley about getting clients, he quickly responds with two answers. “It’s probably the thing that I get asked about the most and it’s probably the most difficult thing to do.”

The difficulty is not necessarily in getting clients, but getting ones that will actually find success and make representing them worth his time. In just a little more than a year, Atchley has fewer than 10 clients, the most recognizable name being former Anderson standout and Baylor running back Paul Mosley. None of his clients are currently on an NFL roster.

Like any business, networking is key in building up a roster of clients. Atchley has learned in his short time as an agent that making as many contacts as possible is the best approach simply because you never know where a potential client might come from. Mosley is the perfect example.

“I was at the Cingular store upgrading my phone and my wife’s phone. I was making conversation with the sales guy there and he asked what I did for a living and I told him. I think the passion came across in my voice-the love for the game as well as the law. He told me that there was a guy that used to work for him when he managed a parking garage who had a son who was from Anderson High and went to Baylor and was a pretty good running back.”

After the salesperson confirmed Atchley’s suspicions that the player he was referring to was Mosley, the salesperson called Mosley’s dad and asked if it would be okay for Atchley to call. The elder Mosley approved.

“I called Mr. Mosley and we spoke. We kept in touch throughout the season. I talked to Paul a couple times as well.”

And a relationship was born.

When this reporter questioned Atchley about contacting Paul Mosley during the season, he didn’t hesitate to explain and dispel the common misconception about agents contacting players-college or high school-anytime of the year, including during the season.

Atchley knows the rules and knows them well. He said in Texas there are actually three sets of rules-NFLPA, NCAA, and State of Texas.

“With the State of Texas there is a whole section of law regarding agents, specifically sport agents. We have to pay a $1,000 fee to the State of Texas. We have to be registered with the State of Texas. We have to report all the people we sign during the year to the State of Texas, and if requested, give an accounting of anything that we’ve done in the state of Texas. There’s a complete section of state law dealing with agents.

“Frankly, the State of Texas, the NCAA, and the NFLPA, I commend them, because all the rules and laws they passed just make sense. They’re not unfair. They’re not bad. They don’t unfairly restrict or prohibit any conduct that you shouldn’t be doing otherwise.”

Atchley said while Texas is unique because it has laws specific to sports agents, agents throughout the country know that in dealing with the NCAA and the NFLPA, there are two basic guidelines you must follow at all times.

- You cannot give them anything of value.

“Them is the player, family, friends, friends of friends, friends of family, friends of friends of family. Anything at all that is of value. Not a single penny,” Atchley said. “It’s very clear. It’s bad for the player and the agent. The player could lose his eligibility. The agent could be fined or lose his license with the NFLPA.”

- You cannot enter into a contract with them.

“Not oral, not written. You can’t agree to enter into a contract later for the future.”

If an agent follows those two simple rules, chances are they will stay in good standing with both governing bodies.

While the NFLPA and NCAA are the official governing bodies that develop and enforce the rules, each school also has the right to create its own set of rules and limitations for agents. The stringency of those rules varies from school to school.

“The University of Texas would like all agent communications to go through a certain department. All letters are supposed to be addressed to them. If you send it directly to a player, you’re supposed to send a copy to UT so they have a copy as well. But they don’t specifically prohibit, in any way, you contacting the players or anything like that.”

In contrast to the University of Texas and its specific set of rules that they request agents follow, other schools like Midwestern State in Wichita Falls leave less up to interpretation.

“They strictly prohibit any contact with players. They want every communication to go through the athletic department itself,” Atchley noted.

Regardless of the university and its agent guidelines, Atchley said agents do themselves a disservice if they don’t follow the rules of each respective school.

“If you want to establish a good relationship with the coaching staff of any particular university you need to follow those rules. The University of Texas can’t do anything specifically to you, but they can prevent you from coming on their campus to interview their players. The players can interview with you outside of campus, but the bottom line is, if that player loves that coach, and that coach doesn’t recommend you or tells that player that you’re not doing it the right way or you’re not a good ethical person, then the odds are that you hurt your chances of signing that player. It doesn’t make sense not to follow the rules as much as possible.”

That said, with today’s technology, contact with a player by an agent can occur in a variety of different ways. This influx of high-tech communication makes all the university rules difficult if not impossible to enforce, much less obsolete. At UT, carbon copying a letter to the school implies that the agent would use a letter as a means of communicating with the player. While some may choose that as the formal method, it’s hardly the method of choice.

“You can talk to them. You can text message with them. You can e-mail with them. As long as you’re not breaking those two cardinal rules, you can interact with them every day,” Atchley said.

Interacting with a player once a week much less every day might be perceived as dirty by many sports fans. It’s hard not to perceive sports agents as less than wholesome considering the only time they make the headlines is when they’ve signed a client to a record contract or their actions have resulted in a certain college receiving probation and other sanctions and/or a player losing his eligibility. Atchley understands the perception but eagerly pointed out there’s nothing sinister about it. It’s business.

“I know that agents have access to the locker rooms and the sidelines. There’s nothing wrong with it. They’re not doing anything wrong. They’re trying to do their job and networking and trying to lay a foundation for a relationship and for a possible future business,” he said.

Atchley said there was a case not too long ago where college football fans were up in arms when it was learned that agents were walking on the sidelines of USC games. Understandably, Atchley had a unique take on the situation, and one where the events on the USC sideline could be perceived by some as a good thing.

“If you’re a school like USC or UT and you have really good agents around there, that’s another marketing tool that you have for players that are coming there. If you come to USC or UT you’re going to get seen by the top agents in the NFL that can help your career move forward,” he said. “That’s why there is a love-hate relationship between colleges and agents. They don’t want the agents to screw up the players’ eligibility because they are counting on those players to perform for them, but at the same time they want the agents around because it’s enticing to the players to come there because it’s once again, more evidence that they could go to the NFL.”

Atchley said what happens on the sidelines at college football games is actually the conclusion of a pursuit that, in many cases, started years earlier at high school stadiums around the country.

“The top prospects in high school are already communicating with agents. It’s more of an introduction, getting to know them, and being fans. You’re letting them know that you’re there for them maybe later down the line. It’s part of a courting process that starts way back then.”

Generally speaking, contact is initiated by both the agent and the player. For those higher profile players, as you might expect, contact is usually initiated by the agents because the player and his prospects as a future client are in higher demand.

The Close

Sports agents wear many hats working for a client. Negotiator. Counselor. Financial advisor. Those are just a few. One of the most important hats is actually worn before the agent ever signs the client. It’s that of a salesman.

During the entire courting process the agent is selling the player on his ability to provide a service better than anyone else. He does this in a variety of different ways. For the high school junior quarterback, it might include a call or a congratulatory text message following a big win. For the college senior, it might include a text message wishing him good luck on his upcoming finals.

Either way it’s an opportunity for the agent to show his potential client that a) he really cares and b) he’ll go the extra mile for him including doing the little things.

While these niceties are great for building up a relationship, when it comes down to the final decision on representation, it’s more than whether or not the agent sent congratulatory phone calls or text messages through the years.

For Atchley, when he meets with the player and his representatives (friends, family and other associates) for the last time, in what is essentially the final job interview, he sets out to convey two things-passion and plan.

“When I meet with a player I want their families to know if they sign with me, I’m going to win for them. I’m going to fight for them. I’m going to attack their career with more passion and intensity than anybody they could sign with. And we’re going to do it the right way. We don’t bend our ethical issues, rules or beliefs in order to gain an advantage, but we fight as hard and passionately as we possibly can to make their dreams happen and to accomplish the goals that they want. Once we get that point across, we move forward to having a plan, a strategy for them.”

The plan is how Atchley, as the player’s representative, will prepare the player for the pro workout days, combines, the NFL Draft, and ultimately, how he will negotiate an NFL contract. Depending on several different circumstances, the plan varies.

The Plan

“One of the strategies after the season is over is to get them in a training facility to get them in training for their pro day or combine. That’s where we’re moving quickly. The players that aren’t going to a bowl game, we’re trying to get them in training now. Some of them we bring down to Austin and we put them in a sports training facility. Others we have in Waco where we have a facility there.”

The facility features a training staff that works with the players on specific drills designed to improve their numbers at the NFL Combine or on the pro player days.

“They’re specifically set up for NFL Combine training. They teach you how to run 40s better and faster. I’ve seen people shave a tenth of a second off of 40 times.”

In addition to the facility, housing and meals are provided during the training period. Atchley said this type of 24-7 training is not offered to all of his clients simply because it’s not always feasible from a logistics standpoint, and in some cases, not financially responsible.

“It depends on what kind of draft pick they’re going to be or their likelihood of success. It costs a lot of money to do this type of training. If you’re just going to be a free agent and you’re just trying the best you can, then chances are you don’t want to incur an expensive training facility bill as an agent or a player. As an agent you have to look at it and say is it worth my money to invest in this training facility for that player? What is their likelihood of getting signed?”

Regardless of the training location, Atchley said it’s imperative during this time (the last half of December through early February) that the player shows a commitment to training like never before.

“It’s the most important training that they’ve ever had in their life. The reason is when they start going to the combines in mid to late February and their pro days shortly thereafter, if they’re not in their peak, peak, peak physical condition, then they won’t make it,” he said matter-of-factly.

While posting solid numbers at the NFL Combine and pro player days are important and have been used to judge talent for years, those numbers and their overall significance are much greater today. That’s because any player that doesn’t put up dazzling numbers risks team scouts, personnel directors and GMs not only questioning the player’s physical ability, but his work ethic as well.

“A couple years back some of the agents realized that you could create specific training for all these tests that they do at the Combine. These people started becoming workout warriors and they would go to these facilities and they would turn out these eye-popping numbers because they would train like mad men, harder than they ever had for six to eight weeks. That time has passed now because everybody does that. So, if you’re not doing it, your commitment is questioned. You don’t really want this job. You didn’t work out harder than you ever had before. You didn’t train as hard as all these other guys. I know in college you may have run a 4.5 and that was good enough. You won all Big 12 honors. We expected you to be even faster now because you want to go to the NFL.”

Ultimately, the success of a player’s career-whether they’re drafted, whether they have a career at all and what kind of career they have-is up to the individual player. Atchley said as an agent it is his job to put the player in the best position possible.

“There are a lot of agents out there that don’t offer combine training. There are a lot of agents out there that don’t take a personal interest in their clients. For me, it’s a job that’s 24-7. They have unfettered access to me. They have my cell phone, e-mail. That phone doesn’t leave my side. If they have a problem that occurs at 3 am, I come running. If they have a problem that occurs during church on Sunday, I come running. Anything they need help with, that’s my job to put them in the best position to protect them, get them ready, get them prepared for their basic job interview, and that’s what the NFL Combine is. That’s what the NFL Draft is. All of it is they’re preparing for a huge potential multi-million dollar job interview. The agent’s job is to get the player prepped, to be able to answer questions, to be able to do the physical, to be able to do all of it so that they’re going to make the best impression possible and be at their full potential. I can’t make a player want it. I can’t make a player better than they are. I can just make them the best that they are. That’s my job.”

In the League

After Atchley negotiates the standard player contract with the team and the player signs it, then Atchley begins the process of assisting the player in getting his finances in order.

“Once on a team, it depends on the player, if they’re a marketable player, we try to start getting marketing opportunities for them, advertising, situations where they can endorse products and other ways to generate income. If they’re a high-worth player or they signed a big contract, I try to counsel them and talk to them and help them plan for the future. I have a financial planner and CPA involved that will help with any investments for a player so that they are set up well. One of the things that I don’t want my players to ever do is to be one of those players that when they get done playing they’re out of money. I want my players to be smart and plan for the future.”

In addition to assisting with financial planning and generating other sources of revenue for the client, Atchley said his job is much like working with the player prior to the NFL Draft; he will do whatever the player needs including the handling of personal issues.

“If there’s a jealous girlfriend, if there’s a family member causing distractions during the season, whatever personal issues that come up, I look at it as full-service. I’ll handle all the things that could become distractions and allow them to focus on being a football player and doing the things that they need to do because it’s a very different job. It’s the same thing that applies to artists, actors, bands. It’s a very different mindset. It’s not like having a 9-to-5 job where you get up, you go to work, you get home and you put that out of your mind, watch TV, eat dinner, and spend time with your family. These guys are in classes all day long with offense, defense, special teams. They’re studying game film. They’re going to work out and going to practices. They come home and watch more game film. Especially in the season, they cannot have distractions. They cannot have things that disrupt their concentration because in the end, every game that is played is a multi-million dollar transaction. Every time that they’re on that field, it’s a multi-million dollar deal or it could potentially be. They’re preparation is key.”

Building Up the Client Base

Despite not having a client signed with an NFL team heading into his second year as an agent, Atchley is quite confident of the future. When asked why a client would choose him over a Rosenhaus or a Steinberg, Atchley said it’s pretty simple.

“Personal connection. It’s the same thing as Mack Brown, Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll or Jim Tressel when they all go into a recruit’s house. What makes that recruit choose one of those coaches over the other? They’re all even at that point. If you’re talking about agents, what makes a player choose Drew Rosenhaus over Leigh Steinberg? It’s all about who did the player personally connect with the most. Right now because I’m just beginning, if I’m competing against Drew Rosenhaus and Leigh Steinberg, odds are the player in their mind is thinking they’re going to be better off with one of those guys. I disagree because I think I can do every bit as good a job if not better because I’m going to be hungrier, more passionate and more focused on that player than those other guys who have a huge roster. Right now what I have to offer is experience, passion, ability and talent equal to anybody else that is representing players today. You put me in a room against Drew Rosenhaus and Leigh Steinberg and I’ll hold my own all day long.”

Posted in Football