Bryan Kehl, a promising young linebacker for the New York Giants, was picked in the fourth round (123rd overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. Kehl came out of BYU following his senior season where he was named the team’s defensive MVP, tallying 91 tackles. He is represented by Michael Hoffman of Premier Sports Management. We thank Bryan Kehl for taking some time to speak with us.
Richard Kimsey: How did you pick an agent coming into the NFL?
Bryan Kehl: I probably had about 10 or 12 contact me. Solicit themselves to me if you will. They called me on the phone to come to meet with me to present their case and I just went with the one that did the best job, presented the best case, and I felt most comfortable with.
Kimsey: What kind of tactics did they use to recruit you?
Kehl: They were actually pretty straight forward. It’s hard to tell because coming out of college, you don’t know the history so they kind of tell you what you want to hear and some of them do a little more than that, some of them are more straight shooters, but basically they’re just trying to gain your business so they tell you what they can offer you and it’s kind of interesting.
Kimsey: Did you have anyone help you through the process?
Kehl: Well I talked to some other guys. If an agent came to talk to me and I knew some of their clients, I would call them and talk to them and I just tried to get a feel for it. I talked to some of the previous guys that went to BYU.
Kimsey: How did a personal relationship build with the agent you chose?
Kehl: The one that I ending up choosing is a cool guy. He’s a good friend and he calls me to talk to me during the season and I still talk to him all the time, just a solid guy. It’s really been a positive experience so far.
Kimsey: How did he prepare you for the draft and your first contract?
Kehl: He did a good job. The place that he had me train at was top-notch and that was part of why I chose him too, because he was going to pay for that. That was his investment in me and so that was top-notch and he did a good job of getting me ready for all the aspects and getting me prepared mentally and physically.
Kimsey: What’s the most important thing an agent can do to get a player to sign with them and to keep the player happy in the future?
Kehl: I would probably say earn their trust. Just let them know that they’re going to be your advocate, because that’s their job. They need to fight for you. They don’t get you drafted, but when it comes to contract negotiation time then they need to fight for you. Just a trustworthy agent that’s going to do what they say and just go to battle for you.