After weeks of speculation and many writing in Jay Z and Roc Nation Sports as his next agent, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Desean Jackson decided to go in a different direction. On Friday, Jackson’s public relations manager, Denise White, broke the news via Twitter that Jackson signed with football agent Joel Segal of Lagardère Unlimited.
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In early June, White said that Jackson was not entertaining any new agencies or agents at the time and specifically indicated that her statement included Jay Z’s new Roc Nation Sports agency. Yet other reporters, including Mike Garafolo of USA TODAY Sports, commented that Jackson told his teammates that he was interested in signing with Roc Nation Sports.
While Segal is undoubtedly a qualified and prominent football agent, one must wonder if there were other factors that persuaded Jackson to stay away from signing with Jay Z’s new sports agency. The NFLPA recently conducted an investigation concerning Roc Nation Sports’ role in the recruitment of New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith, who switched from Select Sports Group to Kim Miale of Roc Nation after the 2013 NFL Draft. No punishment has been levied to date, but players may start to become concerned about potential negative ramifications stemming from the investigation. That said, Jackson will likely be performing on the 5-year, $47 million contract he signed on March 14, 2012, so having a certified agent on his side is not necessarily the most important thing for the time being. But he now has one and his name is Joel Segal.
