At one point in Myron Rolle‘s college football campaign, he might have thought that he would be hearing his name tonight as a first round pick in the NFL Draft. At the end of 2008, when many were wondering if Rolle would go pro or take up an offer to attend Oxford University, a lot of analysts had Rolle as the #1 strong safety available. After Rolle chose to attend Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, I believed that Rolle would be an agent’s dream client. When I found out that Leigh Steinberg sits on the board of directors for Myron Rolle’s nonprofit foundation, I figured Steinberg would be representing the Rhodes Scholar. Rolle went ahead and signed with Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, and his primary agent became Jeremiah Donati.
A couple of weeks ago, Rolle dropped Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment for Joel Segal of BEST. Rolle understood that it was his decision to attend Oxford and that if NFL scouts had a problem with that, he was the only person to blame for it. However, Rolle didn’t think that only one team would attend his pre-Draft workout. He also did not like the way that Steinberg & Co. were branding him. Rolle was quoted as saying,
“They [Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment] tried to market me as the athletic (President) Obama, which was fine. I feel that people who pick up on my story — teachers, children, peers, parents — they recognize that this young man’s a true student-athlete.”
Again, the problem was branding. Rolle wants to be seen as a football player, not someone who is going to change the world outside of the football field (at least for now). He is hoping that the switch to BEST will help people realize that all he cares about, right now, is adding value to a professional football team.
12 replies on “On To The Next One: Myron Rolle”
you see him going any higher than 3rd round?
It’s always the agent’s fault apparently??…forget that he ran an unimpressive 4.69 at the combine??! He may have been a top safety last year but that class was WEAK. Rolle could be a nice NFL player but he wont be going higher than the 4th round and he def is not in the class of berry, mays, and thomas this year…he’s too one dimensional
Well it’s definitely the easiest person for an athlete to place blame on.
He’s not a cover safety thats for sure…having said that, teams wont take an “in the box” safety higher than 4th or 5th round…in Rolle’s defense he was never in coverage much at FSU…he was almost like a linebacker it seemed
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Well Lee will get his money back, BEST sports lost and Tom Shaw is the only one that profited off of this deal! The trainers win every year! What a business!
Great comment. The trainers do win every year! But how did Lee get his money back?
read the comment. I said Lee will get his money back! either from the new agent or you sue the player.
I assume you mean “Leigh” as in Leigh Steinberg. You think that Segal will compensate Steinberg in any way? And what would his cause of action be against Rolle?
i cant stop laughing that leigh is being reffered to as lee and he thinks that agents automatically compensate the other when an athlete switches as if it is common industry practice hahaha
Darren, I was unaware that some agents compensate their clients’ former agents? Is it just common courtesy or are their certain times where it is/isn’t appropriate? And how will BEST lose out because of this switch?
It is rare that an agent will compensate a client’s former agent. Sometimes it is done to avoid a lawsuit if there has been tampering. Sometimes it’s just common courtesy. But again, it is rare. I’m not sure how BEST loses. If Rolle excels, they will make some nice commissions on his 2nd contract. And because Rolle has a good head on his shoulders, I doubt we will see him make the news for the wrong reasons.