Unfortunately, the following is no April Fool’s joke. The agent community has lost a very valuable member in the passing of NFLPA certified Contract Advisor Eugene Parker. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Parker lost his battle with kidney cancer. He leaves behind many family members, friends and clients whom adored him, including Jairus Byrd, who Tweeted that he lost the greatest agent ever, a father figure and friend. May Eugene rest in peace. For all of us that have crossed paths with him, we always admired his skill and grace. Any dislike merely came from jealousy of his success as an athlete representative.
I am traveling to Houston today to partake in some Final Four activities and then off to Gainesville for the annual University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Sports and Entertainment Law Symposium. Hopefully you can attend if you are in town. I love returning to my alma mater!
This week on Forbes: (1) Risk No Longer Worth Reward For Many NFL Players; (2) Could Virtual Currency-Based Daily Fantasy Sports Strike Gold?; and (3) Why NFL Should Back Off New York Times Defamation Threat.
This week on Inc.: (1) Legalized MMA in New York Is Monumental for the Sport; (2) How the Cloud Can Help You Cut Calories More Efficiently; (3) 6 Reasons Why Wearables Are The Future Of Fitness; and (4) Greg Norman’s 7 Approaches To Keeping Employees Happy.
And as always, the weekly wrap-up:
Football
- Roc Nation Sports, Cash Money Sports and now Young Money Sports [Reggie Northrup, FSU linebacker, signs with Lil Wayne’s agency].
- Campbell left suspended agent Ben Dogra for his former partner Tom Condon at CAA [Contract talks between Cardinals, Calais Campbell could begin].
- Agent Ron Butler recounts his relationship with Walker [Tray Walker’s agent was just getting to know his client’s promise].
Basketball
- Rich Paul is really growing his practice to be much more than LeBron James [UW Huskies’ Dejounte Murray signs with LeBron James’ agency, agent Rich Paul].
- Intends to hire agent, but hasn’t announced specific agent/agency yet [Kansas guard Brannen Greene declares for NBA draft, to hire agent].
- Same deal with Jackson [Demetrius Jackson leaving Notre Dame for NBA].
Soccer
- If only agents of U.S. pro sports could threaten non-paying players with suspension [Emmanuel Eboue: Sunderland set to terminate defender’s contract].
