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NFL Players Recruiting

Is It Really Worth It?

People say that agents giving financial goodies to potential clients is much worse in football than any other sport. The Reggie Bush scandal that seemed to be locked away from the media for a while has just hit the surface again due to a new Yahoo! report, which suggests that Bush’s family did in fact receive a nice chunk of change [Bush, family received $100,000 in benefits].

The report says that Michael Michaels (who did not land Reggie Bush) along with Mike Ornstein (does represent Reggie Bush) gave Bush hotel rooms, money, rent-free housing, etc. Ornstein, who has been claimed to be one of the post powerful and influential figures in the sports industry, says that he did not know that giving Bush a loan was in any violation of NCAA rules.

Someone will pay, and most likely it will be those who attempted to sign Reggie Bush to marketing deals. The subject of this post should be a question that we all ask ourselves before even thinking about violating any NCAA rules (which any agent should be up-to-date on): Is providing any type of monetary benefit to a prospective client worth the potential harm that it may cause your reputation and/or wallet? My answer is no, and I hope you all feel the same way. A key part of creating this blog was to attempt to revolutionize the industry by providing information to a large audience. I hope that one of the results can be to bring more ethical agents into the profession and kick the cheaters out.

Just to clarify: Mike Ornstein and Michael Michaels are not guilty of anything as of today, and I am not trying to say that they are. We should be finding out the truth as the investigation continues. This report is merely based on an 8-month investigation by Yahoo! Sports [Report: Agents Lavished Bush With Gifts].
[tags]reggie bush, ornstein, usc, new orleans[/tags]

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

5 replies on “Is It Really Worth It?”

There is nothing more valuable to a professional, of any kind, than his or her reputation. A reputation in not created in days, or months, or even a few years. It is made in a lifetime. However, it only takes a minute to completely destroy it. And while many may conclude, “So Reggie and other athletes are getting this great perks from all these agents,” this kind of mentality is what allows an industry to become corrupt. In a business realm of such affluence and power, those who work in sports agency must strive to be leaders, not only in their profession, but throughout their community. They must maintain the integrity of their jobs to the fullest degree. The road to becoming successful in any field requires dedication, commitment, and perseverance. Thus to tarnish all these attributes with bribery and deceit should never happen, especially when risking one’s reputation and career.

Great point, and I 100% agree with your statement. At the same time, we are still at an early point in the investigation, and people who have spoken out against Mike Ornstein and others may be doing so out of a personal grudge. I believe that Ornstein most likely did give Bush money (with the stupid loan statement), but it may not be as bad a situation as Yahoo! Sports reported. Either way, any violation of NCAA rules is just stupid in my book and not worth the potential terrible press that could ensue.

By Post Author

While I completely agree with you that something like this is completely wrong, I understand why Ornstein and Micheals did what they did. If I were to ever get into the sports agent profession and was desperate just to get that first client or my first big client, I don’t like to believe it but I could see myself doing something like this to land him. As soon as the bowl games end for college football players or they declare themselves draft eligible it is free game to buy those potential clients whatever they want. Maybe these guys played it honest for years and after years of losing big name clients figured they would break the rules. I’m don’t know what their client list or anything like that so I’m a little uninformed and while I don’t condone these actions I’m only saying its a cutthroat business and after awhile the drive to be successful starts to blur the line behind right or wrong.

As a side note to this situation does anyone have a problem with Bush losing his Heisman, USC losing its championships or USC possibly getting penalized. Bush I’m fine with but as for the other 2 I feel like too many people who don’t deserve it are getting penalized that way.

[…] I am not surprised to see this news coming shortly after new developments in the Reggie Bush scandal. The problem is that those being investigated for giving gifts to Reggie Bush would not fall under the class of people regulated by the NFLPA. Agents that represent players in contract talks are bound by the NFLPA’s regulations, but financial advisors and marketing representatives are not [NFLPA Might Restrict Agents]. How then would Gene Upshaw’s new rule effectively prevent situations like the Reggie Bush scandal from occurring again in the future? Richard Berthelsen, the NFLPA’s general counsel wants to make each player’s agent responsible for any benefits given to a player through a 3rd party (i.e. Joel Segal taking the blame for allowing Reggie Bush to receive money) or just extend the NFLPA’s rules to govern activities of marketing representatives (makes more sense). […]

I AM A CPA AND CFP AND I WAS CONSIDERING APPLYING FOR THE NFL FINANCIAL ADVISOR DESIGNATION WITH THE NFL. I WANTED TO KNOW IF THE AGENTS OUT THERE SEE ANY REAL VALUE IN THIS. DO THE AGENTS REFER NFL ADVISORS TO THEIR CLIENTS?
I ADVISE MANY CLIENTS ON FINANCIAL AND TAX MATTERS. I ONLY HAVE A HANDFUL OF NFL OR FORMER NFL CLIENTS BUT I LIKE FOOTBALL VERY MUCH.

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