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Football Agent Ashley Millerick Knows She Has To Be “On Her Game” To Compete In A Male Dominated Industry

Ashley Millerick is a 25-year-old NFLPA Contract Advisor who recently became certified by the players’ association.

After perusing through the list of the 133 newly minted NFLPA Contract Advisors, I realized an unsurprising lack of female certifications.  In fact, by my count, less than 10 of the 133 individuals who successfully passed the NFLPA certification exam and paid the required dues to become fully certified are women.

One of the few females who can show off her new NFLPA Contract Advisor card is Ashley Millerick, who is listed by the NFLPA as being associated with agency Willis & Woy Sports.  The 25-year-old freshly minted attorney who is the first NFLPA Contract Advisor hired by Willis & Woy was already the focus of an article written by Andrew Marton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Millerick graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in communications and then received her law degree from Texas Tech.  She has many of the attributes agencies look for in a hire: experience (she formerly interned with Willis & Woy), connections (former athlete at TCU with a lot of athlete connections) and her looks won’t hurt in this business.

Millerick has been alive for 25 years; her boss (Jordan Woy) has been in the business of representing football players for that long.  But Millerick can quickly become tough competition for agents who have many years of experience, and she seems to have a good grasp of the business.  She had the following to say to Marton for his article:

“I try to use the fact that I’m an energetic woman to actually open up more channels of communication, because I’m finding that as a woman, more of my clients feel a greater ease and trust in talking with me.  In fact, as a woman agent, some of the players carry less of the stereotype of male agents in their head, and I try to use that to my advantage.

I’m not naïve at all about how most of the men in that conference room might be thinking of me, this young, 25-year-old chick-agent, and they are thinking, what does she know?  As a woman, I know that I have to be more on my game than a male agent. A male agent can say something stupid and it won’t be held against him. But that’s not necessarily the case if you’re a woman.”

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.