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Agent Spotlight: Mark Rodgers

Palm City, Florida. Not only the home of the great Phil Heitner (my dad), but also a place that agent Mark Rodgers calls his home. At 47 years old, Rodgers is an independent sports agent that works out of an annex to his home. I forgot to mention that the man boasts a list of 24 clients and manages to spend time with his 5 kids.

Mark Rodgers is a Florida boy. He went to FSU for his undergraduate degree and for Law School (I’ll forgive him for that) and then worked for a couple of law firms before becoming an independent Sports Agent in 1997. He mostly does all of the work for his clients on his own, and used 6,000 minutes last month one only one of his two cell phones. I have already discussed An Agent’s Best Friend before. The workday begins at 5AM and sometimes end as late as 1AM. That’s a 20 hour day, something that you will have to be able to handle at certain times if this is the profession for you.

Some Clients:

  • Mike Hampton (Atlanta Braves) – 8 year contract worth $124 million
  • Colton Willems (Washington Nationals) – 2006 1st round draft pick
  • Chris Huseby (Chicago Cubs) – 2006 11th round draft pick

Describing Mark Rodgers:

  • Master at the art of persuasion.
  • Trust.
  • Accessible at all times.
  • From a client’s father: “Communication is a very important thing with him. I heard, with some large firms, you would never get a hold of guys who represent you”
  • From client Mike Hampton: “He’s more like a big brother than an agent. I think he cares beyond the whole baseball aspect of the job.”

Follow the lead of agents such as Mark Rodgers. These stories prove that you can make it on your own without the guidance of a big company supporting you and keep voiding the myth that all agents are scummy. Working out of your home, housing clients when they’re in town, having time to spend with your family, not having anyone above you to answer to, and maintaining great relationships with your clients. All around, a great story.

[Honest approach is key to Palm City sports agent’s success]

[tags]mark rodgers, agent, sports agent, agent spotlight[/tags]

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.

One reply on “Agent Spotlight: Mark Rodgers”

[…] This past Sunday, I did an Agent Spotlight on agent Mark Rodgers. One of his clients that was displayed is a man named Chris Huseby, an 11th round pick made by the Chicago Cubs in this years MLB draft. Well via Deadspin, who has linked to a Baseball America report, I was able to find out a couple of days ago that Chris Huseby has been granted the highest signing bonus for an 11th round pick in the history of major league baseball [Cubs Give 11th-Rounder Huseby Record Bonus]. After pitching only 5 innings in 4 appearances this spring, the Cubs decided they had seen enough to grant Huseby a $1.3 million bonus ($750,000 more than the previous highest bonus given to an 11th round pick). […]

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