Nightmare Clients for the Week of June 11-June 18th

Leave out D. Wade from this list…he is still a bonifide superstar.

Here is your list of nightmare clients for the week of June 11th-June 18th (I am seriously contemplating making this a weekly column updated every Sunday…comment if you think I should):

1. Ben Roethlisberger

Ben takes the proverbial cake this week as he manages to put himself in the same catagory as Kellen Winslow, Jr, Jay Williams, and Jeff Kent. One may find it silly for a multi-million dollar athlete to be driving a motorcycle in the first place during training camp, but how stupid do you have to be to drive one without using a helmet? The Sports Law Blog associates such a decision with playing Russian Roulette after putting six slugs in your revolver [An Expensive Accident]. By harming oneself in a “dangerous activity,” (riding a Harley with no freakin’ helmet) an athlete can end up losing a lot of contract money due to clauses intended to protect teams from paying a player who sits out due to an injury from such stupidity. Troy Vincent believes that there will be an increase of such language in individual contracts starting as soon as certain rookie contracts are negotiated [NFLPA cautions players about bikes].One has to think that a player will take a hit in endorsement money after acting so recklessly. In the future, Ben should be required to wear a helmet while on the football field and even while eating a Roethlisberger burger.[Pictures of the Accident] courtesy of Bad Idea Blue Jeans. Implications for Sports Agents: If your client demands to drive a motorcycle pre-retirement, you better be damn sure that he wears a helmet, and does not go around saying that he does not have to because he is a “safe person.” Also be aware of any “dangerous activity” clauses interwoven into team contracts. If your client likes to go skydiving, play paintball with real bullets instead of paint pellets, or drives motorcycles without a helmet on, you may want to consider negotiating this clause out of his/her contract or instruct your client that he/she is making millions of dollars and should not be stupid.

2. J.J. Redick

Why is J.J. Redick not ranked number one on ugliness this week? Well, simply, Ben is a professional, J.J. is still a college student likely without a lot of guidance. If you live under a rock, you may not know that J.J. Redick was arrested for a DUI this week [Redick Apologized after DWI Charge]. His agent, Arn Tellem, cannot be too happy that his NBA bound client is already tarnishing his name before ever playing a professional game and before signing his very first NBA contract. Deadspin is really getting a kick out of the whole thing, though [Revisiting The Day’s Top Story … Redick!]. We will see how this affects Redick’s already falling stock in the draft. Implications for Sports Agents: Don’t represent a drunk? No. Instead, try to stay as close to your clients before monumental moments such as their introduction into professional leagues (i.e. professional drafts). This could possibly be the worst time for this type of PR.

3. Chris Henry

No one else could really complete this list other than the epidemic himself, Chris Henry. If there was an award given to a player who gets arrested the most within a 6 month period, Chris Henry would have some new hardware to add to the collection. Henry has been arrested now 4 times in 6 months. This week, it was for giving alcohol to underage women (the youngest being 15 years old!). In addition, Henry was accused of raping an 18 year old, but that accusation was later dropped. Wow. Implications for Sports Agents: If you represent Chris Henry, make sure that you have the best PR firm in the nation alongside 24/7.

To recap, our nightmare clients for the week of June 11th-June 18th (the week still is not over…let us hope there are no more problems) are as follows in order of ugliness:

1. Ben Roethlistberger
2. J.J. Redick
3. Chris Henry

Update: I obviously spoke too soon, and if I decide to do this column as a once a week post, I will do it every Sunday for now on, and wait until the end of the week.  Esteban Loaiza has already made this post out-of-date as he decided to take the J.J. Redick route and become the second player this week to be arrested for D.U.I. [Loaiza arrested on suspicion of DUI].

[tags] Ben Roethlisberger, J.J. Redick, Redick, Chris Henry, motorcycle, steelers, duke, pittsburgh, cincinnati, bengals, DUI[/tags]