Travis Beckum was a third-round pick in this year’s NFL draft. He came out of Wisconsin as a highly rated prospect, but had to deal with the fact that he was coming off a broken leg, which he suffered early in his senior season. Beckum is represented by Roosevelt Barnes of Maximum Sports Management. We thank Travis for taking the time to speak with us.
Richard Kimsey: How did you pick an agent coming into the NFL?
Travis Beckum: I just figured out the person that I felt right with. He was the best fit for me and especially for my family.
Kimsey: About how many agents were after you and how did that affect the process?
Beckum: Probably more than half of them. It’s kind of like a recruiting business, everybody is going to tell you what you want to hear and you kind of have to base it off your feeling and your instinct, but yeah, there were a bunch of guys after me.
Kimsey: What kind of tactics did they use to recruit you?
Beckum: Guys are going to tell you what you want to hear. They’re not necessarily always going to tell you the right information, like I said they’re going to tell you what you want to hear, but you kind of have to get a feeling of whose real and who’s not.
Kimsey: How did a personal relationship build with the agent you chose?
Beckum: He is like family now. That’s the best kind of relationship that you can have with your agent.
Kimsey: How did they prepare you for the draft and your first contract?
Beckum: My process was a little different because I was just coming off an injury, but they told me what I needed to do to get the most money possible and we went from there.
Kimsey: What’s the most important thing an agent can do to get a player to sign with them and to keep the player happy in the future?
Beckum: I think have success. I think it’s not necessarily what the agent can give to the player, but let the player know that that person is behind them 100 percent and that they’re considered like family now and that they’re not going to lie to them and they’re always going to tell them the truth.