Categories
College Football Players Headline Recruiting Sports Agents Sports Law

Who Is Chris Hawkins?

Who is Chris Hawkins?  He says he is not an agent, but the NCAA, which suspended University of Georgia stand-out wide receiver A.J. Green for four games because he sold his jersey to Hawkins for $1,000, has no problem labeling Hawkins as an agent.

Is he a financial advisor?  A memorabilia collector?  If he just wanted a jersey, then why is it that people are saying that Hawkins also contacted sports agents about their interest in UNC players and arranged trips for players to met with agents, as well?

Here is who Hawkins is:

  • Former cornerback for UNC who was kicked off the team and finished playing at Marshall University.
  • Nickname is Hawk.
  • Favorite former UNC player is Dre Bly.
  • Former college roommate of NFL RB, Willie Parker.
  • Self-proclaimed manager of Willie Parker.
  • Good friends with UNC cornerbacks Kendric Burney and Charles Brown.
  • Someone who many athletes trust to give them advice regarding sports agents.
  • Facing felony drug charges in Georgia, including a felony charge of trafficking cocaine.

Hawkins has hired Atlanta-based attorney Page Pate to deal with the felony drug charges.  This is who many players are trusting to give them good advice regarding hiring competent people to represent them in contractual negotiations.  At this point, we know that Peter Schaffer of All Pro Sports & Entertainment and Kevin Conner of Universal Sports Management are under the microscope regarding their relationships with Hawkins.

Schaffer represents 40 NFL players including former Tar Heel, Hakeem Nicks.  Connor is listed as representing 5 NFL players: Dekoda Watson (Buccaneers), Chauncey Davis (Falcons), Gerald Sensabaugh (Cowboys), Morgan Burnett (Packers), and Patrick Robinson (Saints).  Sensabaugh played college football at UNC and Burnett played at Georgia Tech.  The other three Connor clients played college ball at Florida State University.

“I do not have a relationship of any kind with Mr. Hawkins,” Conner said in a statement e-mailed to ESPN.com on Thursday. “In no way is Mr. Hawkins affiliated with me or Universal Sports Management, Inc. I have not been contacted by the NCAA or any other organization in regards to any investigation, and I have never received any correspondence from the NCAA.”

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.

One reply on “Who Is Chris Hawkins?”

Pretty fascinating, I mean it happens all the time, yet this one little incident may bring down possibly two agents. This is why I believe that “runners” should be held even more accountable than agents. These guys know what they are doing – agents may even have a high amount of ethical trust in this “runners” or “assistants” that they are actually conducting business appropriately.

What bothers me the most and sickens me is that these amateur athletes are trusting some guy probably shouldn’t even be allowed around any citizen. For those of us who consider ourselves ethical, let the NCAA, private investigators, and state officials dig up all the dirt they need to bust all parties involved — should not be near athletes or anyone else for that matter.

Comments are closed.