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Roc Nation Sports Strengthens Football Division With Erik Burkhardt

Erik Burkhardt, who has been certified as an NFLPA Contract Advisor for 17 years, has joined Roc Nation Sports as co-head of the company’s football division. He will share the responsibility of managing and growing Roc Nation Sports’ football division along with Kim Miale and John Thornton.

Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals), Bradley Chubb (Denver Broncos), Frank Clark (Kansas City Chiefs), Marcus Maye (New Orleans
Saints), Tyler Higbee (Los Angeles Rams), Irv Smith Jr. (Minnesota Vikings), Jordyn Brooks (Seattle Seahawks), Devin Duvernay (Baltimore Ravens), Terence Steele (Dallas Cowboys), Jamel Dean (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Germaine Pratt (Cincinnati Bengals), Brandon Jones (Miami Dolphins), and Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinals) will go with Burkhardt to Roc Nation Sports, per a release. These athletes and coach Kingsbury were previously with Burkhardt when he was most recently at Select Sports Group, which became a part of ICM-Select’s NFL division.

Burkhardt says that he considered several sports agencies before committing to Roc Nation Sports.

“My team and I are thrilled to be joining a world class agency in Roc Nation Sports,” said Burkhardt. “In an effort to always grow and evolve for our clients, I’ve had the unique opportunity to sit down with several agencies and deeply explore all aspects of the industry and the future possibilities for our clients. The Roc family is very different than the rest. What JAY-Z and Juan Perez have built at Roc Nation Sports is truly authentic and forward-thinking. I am grateful for the seamless transition into the agency and look forward to working closely with Kim and John to continue building upon their tremendous success.”

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.