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Dynasty Athlete Representation

Lee Roberts Interview With Kings Of Kauffman

lee robertsOne thing we really enjoy doing for our young Minor League clients is to get them attention from the media.  Unless you are a top prospect first-round signee, chances are that Jonathan Mayo at Baseball America and Keith Law at ESPN are not calling you daily for an interview.  Fortunately, at Dynasty, we are able to leverage some of our great connections acquired through running this blog and having a strong presence on sites like Facebook and Twitter, to open up doors for our clients who may have been later round picks or completely overlooked in the draft.

Every year, each MLB organization makes roughly 50 picks in the Rule 4 Draft, adds foreign players as free agents, and signs college players who were not drafted, but are good enough to be given a chance.  Lee Roberts falls into the last category of players.  He had a very impressive senior season at baseball powerhouse, Loyola Marymount University, but went undrafted.  However, he knew that teams were interested in him, including the Kansas City Royals, which is the team that signed him only a couple of days after the draft.

Wally Fish at Kings of Kauffman recently interviewed Roberts.  It’s not your simple 5-10 short question/answer interview.  Fish went in depth with Roberts to find out everything he could from Lee’s family life, to his style of pitching, and even a little bit about his facial hair.  About that ‘stache..

Do you have any rituals or superstitions you follow before, during, or after you pitch in a game?

During the game, I groom the mound the same way every time before I throw my first warm-up pitch. However, I would say that my biggest superstition would be my facial hair. Even in college I would have a certain style going and as long as I was throwing well, it would stay. My senior year in college I was rocking the full handle bars. As for right now, I have a solo mustache that may or may not be waxed up like Clay Zavada’s!

Read the entire interview here.

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.