“Founded by a team of professionals with over 40 years of combined experience in corporate finance, marketing, law, and sports, DSI understands the new opportunities and challenges that athletes have today.” That’s how the second paragraph of Dimensional Sports, Inc.’s (DSI) “Who We Are” page on its website begins.
The company was co-founded by attorney Malik Shareef and equity trader Rodney Thomas, and has had a tremendous amount of success in a very short amount of time. Among DSI’s notable clients are New York Giants WR Victor Cruz, St. Louis Rams CB Janoris Jenkins, and Arizona Cardinals RB Ryan Williams. The duo also represent former FSU QB E.J. Manuel, who will be selected in the 2013 NFL Draft.
With so much success in the early stages of a start-up sports agency, it should not be a surprise that people want to speak to Shareef and Thomas to learn more about them and their practice. Recently, The Information Age published an interview with Thomas, who is no slouch. Thomas went to school at Harvard, where he played running back and earned a degree in Economics. He later went to work on Wall Street.
Here are a couple paragraphs from the interview that caught my attention:
As a minority-owned agency, are you all experiencing the same struggles that minority prospects for coaching, GM and executive positions endure in professional sports?
As a minority in ANY field you have to be twice as good to compete. In the sports industry, you have to be three times as nice. Sometimes, certain African-Americans believe that ”White is right”, and wisdom only comes with age. Being both young and black presents natural hurdles. Even with resumes as esteemed as ours, (DSI’s three partners have degrees from Harvard and UVA) we still have to consistently prove our worth by the work that we do for our clients. Even with 5 draft picks in 3 yrs and a top 10 pick, we still deal with constant push back. That reluctancy only makes us grind harder.
What’s one thing/task/item that comes along with the profession that most people wouldn’t consider or think of?
One thing that people don’t associate a lot with me and my profession is that a lot of times when it looks like agents are partying, they are usually working. Nightlife is a component of entertaining both potential and current clients. Personally, I prefer to be at home, but I have to do what’s needed to please the client. These athletes are very young, wealthy men that like to party. Therefore, there are a lot of nights out in the club!
