Honorable Client of the Week

Post author By Darren Heitner
Post date June 22, 2007
4 Comments on Honorable Client of the Week

The media (and this site) does a disservice to athletes. Many media sources only focus on the bad things that players do on a daily basis. This site only highlights players’ wrongs in a wrap-up every Sunday night (does that make us any better?..probably not). It is hard for this site to mention all of the good things that athletes do each and every day. Our sources are comprised mostly of a myriad of local newspapers, blogs, and ESPN. It is ~~surprising~~ not shocking that these outlets tend to focus on every bad bone in an athlete’s body. Anyway, I would not be opposed to starting a new column to run alongside Nightmare Clients of the Week that would focus on all of the great things that athletes, coaches, media entities, etc. have done in the previous week. If there is enough interest, I will try to get a contributor working on it right away.

With that little shpiel out of the way, I would like to highlight something that an athlete has recently done (actually done yearly for the past 5 years) to make the world a better place. His name is Jalen Rose (ever hear of him?), and he has just donated $50,000 in college scholarships to 5 needy high school seniors for the 5th consecutive year [Rose awards scholarships to five Detroit high school seniors]. Rose’s story should also be an inspiration for all players that leave early to go professional in their respective sports. Jalen decided to go back and complete his college education at the University of Maryland after leaving early from the University of Michigan in the ’90s.

The story highlighting Rose’s contributions was written and posted on Wednesday at ESPN.com. It is now mid-day on Friday and there are only 16 comments on the page (ESPN.com stories usually generate hundreds of comments). I think that these 2 comments sum up why there are so few comments and builds on what I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post:

blackjackz2000 (6/20/2007 at 3:23 PM)

Come on people…….Pacman gets in trouble again, and there are over 200 posts. Jalen is a breath of fresh air, and no one seems too interested in this. Thank You Jalen, the NBA needs more players like you.

Biafra4Life (6/20/2007 at 3:28 PM)

my thoughts exactly blackjack…had this been an article reading “Jalen Rose Arrested for club shooting” we would see about 500 posts proclaiming all NBA athletes to be thugs and animals…but when you see something positve it gets swept under the rug…thanks Jalen…we need ESPN to publicise more NBA players like you so that we can shut up all these haters on here…

Once again, I will only attempt to start up the new column if there is enough interest. If you think it is worth the pain and agony of scouring the net for positive deeds done by athletes, please note it in the comments.

-Darren Heitner

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.

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4 replies on “Honorable Client of the Week”

I think it’s a good idea, all we ever hear about is the bad things that go on when the truth is the majority of professional athletes are model citizens who are giving back to their communities in various ways.

Athletes from Detroit have a strong tendency to support their alma matters or encourage others to achieve college educations.

Rose’s actions remind me of Steve Smith’s donation to Michigan State University a few years ago.

“Since leaving Michigan State, he has remained an active part of the MSU community. He donated $2.5 million to the University to help build the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, giving MSU one of the best academic support buildings in the nation. At the time of the gift, it was the largest donation ever by a professional athlete to any college or university. In 2001, he donated another $600,000 to his alma mater to endow a four-year scholarship that will bring one student each year from Detroit Pershing High School, his alma mater, to MSU” http://msuspartans.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/061202aaa.html

On that note, GO BLUE!

Unfortunatley, you all know as well as I do that no there are not many people who want to hear good things about athletes unless it is breaking a record, making a highlight, or beign traded to your favorite team. I don’t know if anyone saw the make a wish speical last night with dwane wade but there is a reason they only show one of the many charitable things pro athletes do ONCE A WEEK, while they can’t stop talking about Tank, Pac, and Kobe…

I think it’s time that we change this, though. When I get back home from D.C. (Tuesday night), I will start researching for the rest of the week to see how much good PR i can find. Just because no other news source promotes athletes’ good behavior does not mean that we cannot start doing so here.

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