O-DLife Sends An Open Letter To All Agents

Matt Whittier, President of O-DLife, has sent a new message to agents titled, An Open Letter to All Agents.  In the body of the email, Whittier wrote,

You’re receiving this due to the respect that we have for your past
business endeavors. We feel that you have a great deal to offer the
players of tomorrow, and if you would like to work with us at O-DLife
providing players with the most up to date information on your agency,
please let us know.

Unfortunately, as well all know, there are many in the representation
industry that don’t follow the guidelines set by the NFL or NCAA. The
purpose for these guidelines is simply to protect these kids from
jeopardizing their student-athlete status and not ruin the hard work
put in by both the athlete and the family of the athlete.

While we all are aware of these guidelines, we cannot stress enough
the importance of abiding by the NFLPA and NCAA rules and regulations.
Having been in business for 43 years, we have strong relationships
with many players and families that will soon be in the league. Some
of our closest bonds remain with our Bowl Players. Our 2007 Bowl Class
will be in this year’s draft, and our 2008 Bowl Class is now
eligible for draft. We are most proud to have trained a great majority
of these players since the early age of 7, and are overjoyed to see
their growth into the outstanding players they are today. Being that
our ties are so strong, these players and families do notify us when
any agencies break the rules, and they also inquire about which agents
will be the best fit for them.

As a consulting firm, O-DLife does take this information and document
it. If your agency would like to work with us, we hope to rid the
sport of these dishonorable agencies, runners, and bird-dogs.
Reputations take years to build, and merely seconds to destroy. Our
players are only interested and deserving in working with those in the
industry with the utmost, unquestionable integrity. With this being
said, we look forward to hearing from you.

I’m fine with the message.  In fact, I applaud Whittier for his efforts…as long as they are true.  The problem is that George Dohrmann of SI.com has reported in the past that Whittier and O-D Life have proposed to at least one agent that O-D Life would get half (1.5 percent) of the agent’s commission on any of the referred players he signed.  How exactly is that different than being a runner?