Held the night before the official NFLPA’s annual required training, Inside the League sponsored its annual gathering of agents at the NFL Combine.  The meeting was led by long time agent Peter Schaffer who set a strong leadership tone for the conversation.  The agent community has long been splintered into factions, and the divides typically look like this:

1. Large agencies;
2. Successful smaller agencies;
3. The solo guys;
4. The dabblers;
5. New agents.

The challenge has been to bring these groups together, because while they compete against each other, the only way to protect the value of the agent and to fight against the NFLPA’s attempts to reduce compensation and restrict activities, is for the agents to work together. The larger agencies usually do not want to be involved with the efforts to reform the system, since they are the ones that usually have the resources to spend the money on recruiting and servicing clients that the other groups cannot afford.  So efforts to restrict any of those tactics run counter to their professional objectives.

Schaffer sought a unifying environment as he led the conversation into the following areas:

• Inducements
• Transparency
• Payments to players over 52 weeks
• Strike preparation
• Agent Association
• New leagues

INDUCEMENTS�One of the biggest issues for anyone trying to break into the agent business is how to compete with the large inducements given to players coming out of college.  One of my ongoing criticisms of the NFLPA has been its fictional attempts to enforce its regulations.  Though it purports to ban inducements” the NFLPA has repeatedly refused to consider marketing advances, training payments, living expenses and many other items paid by the agent as inducements.  The NFLPA says that anything paid after the player signs is not an inducement, essentially meaning that an agent can show you what he paid for other players last year, and that does not constitute an inducement.  In any other body of law, that would clearly be held as an inducement.  Schaffer quoted research which showed him that the average agent netted less than $5500 per client, a number that is far lower than most new prospective agents expect when they enter the business.  Under this business model, he said that nobody is making money.” This number is likely skewed up based on the successful agencies, meaning that for most new agents, this is not a viable business, a viewpoint reiterated by many solo agents and those trying to break into the business.  The $15,000 training bills along with six figure marketing guarantees are significant barrier to entry for most agents.

TRANSPARENCY�One frustration for agents (and many others) has been the lack of transparency in this process.  The addendum’s that agents ask players to sign have never been released and so there is no way to tell if the agent (or player) is being truthful in their characterization of the relationship.  Without transparency, many players (and their families) are not comparing apples to apples in the selection of their agent.  Schaffer would like to see the addendum’s standardized and allow the agents access to a database that shows what the players are being offered and promised.

PAYMENTS TO PLAYERS OVER 52 WEEKS�An ongoing challenge for NFL players (and athletes in many other sports) is their ability to manage their finances.  The NFL pays the players on a 17 week schedule.  This means that they have seemingly huge amounts of money in every paycheck.  This distorts the reality that the money they are paid needs to last an entire year.  While the amount that they are paid is enormous in any normal context, the players are typically inexperienced in managing money and fail to take into account some critical elements: 1) They need to pay taxes; 2) They need to make the money last an entire year; and 3) They are likely to have VERY short careers.  Some agents believe that spreading the payments of 52 weeks will help with those issues.  This is one of the few areas where I disagree with the push of agent group. My advice to my clients is ALWAYS get the money as early as possible. I would much rather have the money in my hands than in the hands of another party.  Good planning and financial management can help alleviate the other issues for the players.

STRIKE PREPARATION— Everyone in the football world is anticipating a strike when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in 2020.  It is hard to imagine how any extension will be reached in advance of that time.  So what this means, is that the players may face a lockout and may need to be prepared for a work stoppage.  The agents are recommending that the players start putting away 10% of the money from each game check, 20% of the playoff money and 50% of performance bonuses so that they have the funds to endure a lockout.  Negotiating from a position of strength is always preferable and by making sure the players are not desperate to take any deal, it will be give the Union some backing in the negotiations.

AGENT ASSOCIATION�A long overdue initiative, an agent association will ultimately help the players as well.  This association will give the agents some leverage with the NFLPA and possibly even with the NFL.  There are a multitude of issues that the agents face regularly that are dismissed completely by the NFLPA as either unimportant at all or not relevant for the power agents that the NFLPA has long catered to.  The room was surprisingly unified in the desire to create an agents association and many agents expressed their willingness to pay a fee that would be required.  One important note in this area was raised by longtime agent Jack Bechta, as he strongly cautioned the agents against litigating with the NFLPA.  Bechta’s fear was that it would ultimately cost their own client’s money and that given the expense it would be unlikely to produce any meaningful changes.

NEW LEAGUES�The event was Co-Sponsored by the XFL, and former Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley spoke to the agent group. It was interesting to hear some of the input the XFL has taken from the agents, most notably, that the XFL will have the agents paid directly by the league.  This is a significant change since one continual battle for many agents is to have their players pay their fees and expenses.  The NFLPA’s refusal to allow this payment structure is the cause of many fee disputes, because it is easier for the player to just not pay” without any good reason. 

It was refreshing to see so many agents addressing the issues that have plagued the agent community since I was first in the business in 2000.  Sadly, the issues really have not changed and the agents have never pulled themselves together.  Prior attempts to create an association have failed, frequently because the individual leading the charge did not have enough respect in the agent community.

Schaffer seems to have that respect and seems to be marshalling the resources that are needed to make an agent association a reality.  It will be interesting to see how the NFLPA reacts at Friday’s meeting and over the next several months.

The one noticeable absence at this meeting was the large agencies.  There did not seem to be any representation from CAA, Athletes First, or Rosenhaus Sports, three of the biggest agencies.

An agents association would ultimately serve the players better as well, a fact which seems to escape the notice of the NFLPA.

One of the things that has always mystified me on the concussion front is how the NFLPA has been virtually ignored.  As the entity charged with representing the players and protecting their health and safety, the NFLPA has essentially been given a free pass on the issue.

Currently, there are lawsuits pending against the NFL, Pop Warner, the NCAA and many other entities.  The basic allegations in each complaint rely on the fact that the sponsoring organization had a duty to the athletes and failed to protect them, and in many cases, hid the dangers of concussions away from them.

The NFL in particular has been accused of downplaying the dangers of concussions and using a committee of highly unqualified individuals to make the decisions for the league.  The problem the league faces is that, until recently, their actions are quite clearly against the weight of medical science.  Their Head, Neck and Spine committee consisted of people who were not neurologists and did not have the credentials to advise on these issues, much less lead the way.

But the question I don’t see anyone asking is Where was the NFLPA while this fiasco was going on.”  It is reasonable to be in the camp of believing that the NFL acted inappropriately and that the league hid dangers and used unqualified people to distort the research (or at minimum, minimize the impact of the research).  Yet I see no groups taking on the NFLPA or even questioning where their leadership was while the concussion crisis started to take shape. 

The group in the best position to take on the powerhouse of the NFL is the NFLPA.  The players alone have little power.  The agents have virtually no power on these issues. Long time agent Leigh Steinberg has said that he was presenting concussion issues to the league in the early 1990’s with no success.

So while the NFLPA may not have been in a position to take the lead role, surely it had the obligation and the right to question how the NFL examined this issue. It seems to me that this was a failure of leadership on the part of the NFLPA and the NFLPA may have been more concerned with other financial issues for the players and with long term health benefits, both worthwhile causes.  You may read this and say, hey, Roy Kessel, who are you to question the NFLPA.  Having been certified as an NFL Contract Advisor (i.e. agent), and having attended numerous NFLPA seminars, Sports Lawyers Association Seminars and having taught at Northwestern, this is an issue that I have examined on many occasions.

While I agree that the NFLPA should not have primary liability on this issue, I do not see how the media has failed to question the union as it relates to their actions.  I have asked this question to former players, media members and even many involved in the concussion” industry.  I am still waiting for an answer.  If you have one, I would love to hear it below.

Super Bowl weeks are always a very hectic time.  If you are associated with the business of sports, there are more events than you could possibly have time to attend in that period of time.  As you read through this summary, you will see the links embedded to the coverage of the various events provided by the Sports Philanthropy Network.

This past week in Atlanta, I was fortunate to participate in a whole variety of events giving me the opportunity to interact with a wide array of individuals from all across the country.

The weekend prior to the game, I was able to attend the NFL Experience at the Georgia World Congress with Kayla Bradham, who is joining the Sports Philanthropy Network as the VP of Community Relations.  We had the opportunity to go through the exhibits and explore the venue in a much less crowded environment than you would see later in the week.  One of the highlights was getting the chance to meet some of the team from RISE, Stephen Ross’ initiative getting its acronym from Ross Initiative for Sports Equality.  As the owner of the Miami Dolphins, Ross has put his name on many things, including the University of Michigan Business School, but this is one that could make an every longer lasting impact.

The first couple days of the week are quieter as the schedule ramps up in anticipation of the crowds heading into the weekend.  It was comical as the City of Atlanta prepared itself for a winter storm.”  The whole city was on high alert mode on Monday as it prepared for horrific conditions on Tuesday.  The TV weather broadcasts warned everyone of impending doom.  Schools were cancelled by Monday afternoon.  The end result?  A day with temperatures in the high 30’s and low 40’s.  A sunny afternoon.  Even the health club I managed to use to squeeze in a few workouts was telling me the facility might close because the weather could change.”

One of the most interesting parts of the week was the ability to get press credentials which gave me access to many of the official NFL events and the various summits and educational seminars around time.  It gave me some great insight into how the media work and the access they receive to all parts of the Super Bowl compound.

• WEDNESDAY: From my end, the week got kick started with a Women’s Empowerment Summit hosted by GladiatHers. Terrific messages from many powerful women. Well over 100 women attended and there were a surprising number of men also supporting the vision of GladiatHers.
• WEDNESDAY: From there, it was a quick run over to the Crucial Catch event held at the American Cancer Society HQ. A strong turnout of NFL representatives, team mascots, cheerleaders and former players led the way as the stations were set up to caution about various cancer risk factors and provide prevention suggestions.
• WEDNESDAY: The GladiatHers evening panel had some very frank conversations from leading women in the Atlanta sports community.
• THURSDAY: The Most Valuable Philanthropist event hosted by Champions for Philanthropy at the amazing venue called The Estate.” Honoring some terrific players who have made a great impact in their community, this event really set a strong standard for other philanthropic events to follow.
• THURSDAY: RISE held their Town Hall Meeting at the King Center with a star-studded and impressive lineup taking the stage to push for social justice and significant reforms in the criminal justice system.
• THURSDAY: Very impressive event at the Porsche Experience, sponsored by AWIS (Atlanta Women in Sports). A terrific turnout and many great women leaders took the stage to accept their awards and talk about their motivations and the impact they desired to make.
• FRIDAY: The NFL Man of the Year Community event was held at the Boys and Girls Club. Attended by almost all of the Man of the Year nominees, this event featured Roger Goodell working the shovel and wheelbarrow and setting the lead example of hard work.
• FRIDAY: George Washington University’s Sports Philanthropy program hosted a networking Happy Hour for the many professionals in town for the Super Bowl and received a strong turnout of people making their career in the sports philanthropy space.
• FRIDAY: A special treat was an invitation to dinner by NFL Hall of Fame LB Rickey Jackson and getting the opportunity speak to him and Eric Dickerson during a late dinner.
• SATURDAY: Leigh Steinberg, Nicole Fisher and the Brain Treatment Foundation hosted a Brain Health Summit as a prelude to Leigh Steinberg’s annual party. The Summit had an insightful panel discussion that examined the difficulties of addressing the concussion problems on a practical level.
• SATURDAY: Leigh Steinberg’s party hosted over 2000 people crammed into the venue and the highlight was Patrick Mahomes taking home some of the awards and showing off his strong presence and command of the audience. Later that night, he took home the Player of the Year.

Unfortunately, I did not get to stay for the game.  Aside from the ticket prices running well over $2,000, it was time to get back home after the two week trip for the Senior Bowl and the Super Bowl.

One thing that struck me as I walked around the streets of Atlanta during the week, was the dichotomy exhibited by homeless individuals asking for food or money, while literally a few yards away, party goers are entering into parties that whose tickets ranged in price from $200 to $1000+.   I haven’t seen any reports on the total amount spent on parties during the week, but you can bet it is a large number.

It is always interesting to see the differing personalities of the players at the Senior Bowl.  At tonight’s opening event hosted by the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, these distinctions were easy to see. Some guys hopped up on the stage and danced with the band, while others stood in the back corner and spent most of their time on their phones.  Some walked thru the room talking to Mobile’s nobility, while other gathered with their new teammates and stood around in groups of players unless they were asked for a photo or an autograph.

But perhaps this picture best demonstrates the attitudes of the players.  Two guys sitting on their phones texting or playing games, while the other two are spending their time studying their new assignments for the upcoming week of practice.

For those that have never been here, it is hard to understand the pressure cooker environment that Mobile represents for the players.  While it may not be quite as bad as the NFL Combine, they are on display 24/7 and every move is being watched and scrutinized by someone.  The challenge for the players is that they often can’t tell who is watching them. In the frenzy that is the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel, they truly have no idea who most of the people are as they walk through, unless it is a coach, scout or media member that they have already dealt with.  

The practices the next three days go a long way to determining the rise and fall in their draft stocks.  As you get the chance to meet most of these kids, you can see that this represents a long-time dream of playing in the NFL.

Imagine a battle.  Back and forth. Two of the best QBs in the game today.  A dull first half turns into a wild second half, with both QBs making play after play to bring their team back into the lead.  This goes on an on over the course of the fourth quarter and as time runs out, Patrick Mahomes leads his team down the field to set up a tying FG.

So with neither defense able to stop the opposing team, how do we end up settling the game?  essentially, we settle it with a coin flip. Because whoever won the coin flip was likely to walk down the field and put up the winning TD.  

Sports talk radio today was filled with a plethora of ideas that could be used as a better alternative to the current overtime format.  Play a full quarter, use the college OT rules, give each team a chance to score. But there is no clear answer. The outrage was probably higher because it was the Patriots who won.  Again. Would the reaction have been as loud if Patrick Mahomes had first crack and was able to lead his team down the field? I doubt it. Patriot hate is loud and clear and most fans do not like artificial endings.  I think most true football fans would like to see it played out until there is a legitimate winner. What that means is unclear in the current context.

But at least it is better than soccer where you have a penalty kick shootout to decide World Cup matches, including the final.  Imagine if a Super Bowl was decided by having the kickers take turns and move progressively back a few yards at a time until one of the missed.  Or if they each took alternate kicks from 45 yards and see who made the most of in five kicks. And if still tied, then we would go to sudden death.  You can only imagine the pressure on a kicker on the 7th or 8th kick if they were all square. And how many kicks would they have to make before one of them really injured their leg on the kicks?

So football is already not THE worst process.  But it is certainly in need of great improvement.  

How do you suggest  OT is handled? Leave us your comments below and tell us what you think would be an equitable way to resolve the games.

Wow.  I rarely say that in response to anything on TV these days (unless it was the replacement officials’ absurd call in the Packers-Seahawks game).

But after watching ESPN’s outstanding 30 for 30 Broke” there is not much else to say.  I guess you could say it is sad, scary, disturbing or any of another dozen negative thoughts.  I did not expect to be overwhelmed by it since this is a field with which I have a lot of direct experience.

I have met numerous athletes who have been defrauded  by their agents, financial advisors, attorneys and friends.  Many of them have been victims of ponzi schemes and other types of scams that were perpetrated on them due to their high profile, great wealth and relative lack of sophistication in dealing with these issues. 

I know attorneys who have filed lawsuits to recover the funds from these ponzi schemes, but unfortunately, the scammers have typically spent and used most of the funds for their own personal benefit, acquiring expensive homes, cars and jewelry and also taking exotic vacations and trips.  While it might make the victims feel a little bit better when they find out that the people who defrauded them have been disbarred, indicted, convicted and sentenced, the reality is that they rarely recover their funds.

When I discuss the cases with the attorneys who have filed the lawsuits on behalf of these athlete victims, they almost universally say that the athletes were defrauded by their own advisors, and that the athletes were too ashamed to come forward sooner to get authorities involved or get attorneys involved early in the process.  The athletes (and their advisors) typically did too little (if any) due diligence on the transactions and on the people who are promoting the transaction.

So while we wonder why this occurs, the reality comes down to one point. TRUST.   Athletes really do not know who to trust.  They rely on the information that is put in front of them by their advisors and their friends.  But who are the ones most often responsible for getting athletes into these ponzi schemes or other scams?  These same advisors.

The trick here is for the athlete to develop and implement a large team of independent advisors that can work together to help the athlete conduct due diligence.  This is where the stories from Broke” were the most disturbing. 

One thing that Broke” made clear is that a lot of the problems arise from the athlete’s feeling of invincibility.  We have read that hundreds and thousands of times relating to physical issues whether it is physical altercations, domestic violence, bar fights, drunk driving or others.  

Yet, we expect these same young athletes to exercise better business” judgment, even though none of them have actual business experience (and few of their families have that experience either).    When you think of who most people rely on when they need help, it is the people closest to them.  Their family and their trusted advisors.  The difference with professional athletes is that they do not grow” into these roles over time.  They do not advance in their careers before their earn big dollars.  They do not develop relationships with advisors while the stakes are small and have that relationship mature over time.  Instead, they are left extremely vulnerable to their agents, their attorneys, their family, their friends and their financial advisors.

One disturbing element in Broke” was how often these players described just handing out money to other people.  The sums of money are so large that they lose ALL perspective to the value of money.  Yet, if you asked them how much money they could earn in a year in any job other than professional sports, that perspective might help them understand their spending habits.

But would they listen?  If you go back and watch broke and listen to the stories from Andre Rison, you will see a tremendous attitude of I do what I want.”   And that comes at an extreme price.  It means that the athletes do not even want to listen to the people who really do want to help them.  Everything in their life is about competition.  About bigger and better.  About  having the best.  So it is easy to see why that also applies to their investments.

You want me to take conservative investments.”   Why should I?”   My teammates just invested into a deal that is getting him [10/20/30%].”

And that is how it happens.  The perpetrators of the scams and the ponzi schemes only need one access point.  They find one athlete that they cater to and cultivate a relationship with, and then they use that person to gain athlete to pro teammates, college teammates, high school teammates, etc.  You can see why the ponzi scheme format is so powerful in this environment.  It connects all the victims and they all feel insecure about the investment loses and they do not know who to turn to.  Many of the athletes write off their loses without even pursuing legal remedies.  And by doing so, they do not bring enough attention to the problem.  Lawsuits against these dishonest advisors would facilitate getting federal and state authorities involved.   Given the limited resources of the FBI, the postal inspectors and the US attorneys offices, they are unable to investigate and pursue all of the claims that are out there.  But with some help and with high profile victims, the lawsuits could help institute the proper administrative and disciplinary proceedings against those operating the ponzi schemes and other scams.  By having cooperative witnesses, supporting documentation and good attorneys leading the way, the opportunity to recover funds before they are all squandered would increase dramatically.   Because ultimately, the players really want a few things:  1) to get their money back; 2) to get their vengeance by having the scammers disbarred, indicted, convicted and sentenced; and 3) to not have this situation take over their life.

Hopefully for most athletes, these losses to fraudulent schemes do not constitute the bulk of their wealth.  But many lose money in other ways.  You saw the descriptions in Broke” talking about how many of them lost money in bad” deals as opposed to fraudulent deals.  At the end of the day, the financial impact is the same even if the emotional toll is not the same.

But perhaps the most difficult losses” to overcome are not those from ponzi schemes, fraudulent investments or bad investments.  It is the result of bad decisions by the athletes.   The amount of money spent on cars, homes, jewelry, gambling, strip clubs, alcohol and other luxuries is way beyond proportion to their financial status.  Athletes do not have the same length of earning career as the average business professional.  In football, the average career is approximately 3 years.   That means that most of the athletes never even make it that far. 

In our next feature, we will look further at how the athletes can overcome these negative habits and what advice they should be given early in their career by the agents and families in order to protect them from slipping into the Broke” mentality.

We honestly hope that Broke” becomes required viewing for the all athletes who have professional sports aspirations.   Because we know that many athletes will NOT listen.  But we also know that the more often they hear the message, and the more often it is from neutral” sources, the more likely they are to give it some credence and give much stronger consideration to the steps that are necessary to prevent the losses to ponzi schemes and other fraudulent scams.

Overall I felt that the movie did a pretty good job of highlighting some of the most severe examples of what could happen as a result of ongoing head trauma and potentially as a result of CTE.  Obviously, I am too close to the issue and not really part of the “target market” so maybe my expectations are a bit off.

I am not sure that the movie needed the love story element with Omalu but it seemed that they wanted to use that as a way to tie the story together and humanize Omalu a bit more.  I give incredible praise to Omalu for being willing to stand up to the NFL and the football establishment and fight on this issue.  His work laid the foundation for the great increase in concussion awareness over the past 5 years.  Despite being right and despite his success, he was demonized by many and I am not sure that the depth of the attacks on him was portrayed in the movie.

I think the movie missed a few big opportunities:

First, for most people that have not been around this discussion, stating that a concussion occurs at “60 Gs of force” is far too abstract.  They would have been better served to put in a few small clips from hits that were estimated at 60 Gs and then show them in comparison to clips that were part of the “Jacked Up” segment, all of which are probably well over 100 Gs of force.  I think most people would be surprised by how “minor” a 60 G hit looks in comparison to what they are expecting

Second, they took the extreme cases of Mike Webster, Terry Long and Justin S. (I am not even going to try to spell that name here without Google).  It is likely that all 3 of those players suffered significantly due to the head trauma and they did find evidence of CTE.  But those are hardly clean comparisons because that was also the midst of the steroid era and the potential of steroid rage and other drug implications is significant.  The movie conveniently ignored all of that as it focused just on the CTE issues (which should not be minimized, nor should you read this paragraph to mean that they are not significant contributing factors to their mental states).

Third, I think that the failure to compare the current state of concussion management and the way players are being handled post concussion now was disappointing.  It leaves the viewer with the impression that anyone playing football WILL SUFFER the horrendous effects that were highlighted in the movie.  Though people have mocked Roger Goodell saying the game is safer than it has ever been, that is probably true.  Players are removed after concussions and monitored closely.  Players who now miss 3-4 games would have been put right back on the field.  The number of hits players suffer in practice is significantly reduced starting from youth football to high school to college and to the NFL (or other pro league).  The cumulative effect of reduced hitting in practice means thousands of hits fewer for any of today’s players.

Finally, most notably, the party who is tasked with the primary responsibility for protecting the interests of the players gets off without any mention.  The NFLPA is the group that should bear MUCH MORE of the anger and frustration from the players than the NFL. The NFLPA has the resources and interest to fight back and question what is going on with the NFL. It never did.  I think it will go down as one of the great failures of Gene Upshaw, former Executive Director of the NFLPA.  I am not sure how the NFLPA has stayed out of the limelight so long, but it also came out with little criticism in PBS Frontline’s “League of Denial”.  If you haven’t watched that and are interest in this topic, it has much more details.

A few other observations:

1. Joseph Maroon comes across as arrogant and fighting against the science.  My favorite was the line of Omalu when he said that “history will laught at those that deny” and “tell the truth”.

2. Elliott Pelman, who chaired the NFL committee on the traumatic brain injuries for many years was a Rhumatologist. This was rightly pointed out in the movie but this movie did not highlight many of his other outrageious statements and proclamations in the offical reports that were issued.

3. Julian Bailes continues to be heavily involved in concussion related matters.  My favorite line of his was when he told Omalu “You are in trouble, but you are not wrong.”

4. The NFL deserves plenty of criticism for not picking up this issue earlier, and certainly for trying to mask findings that had the potential to hurt the game.  The NFL also certainly deserves flack for trying to bury the issue at the conference and presentation and prevent Omalu from presenting his findings. What everyone needs to remember, however, is that NOBODY ELSE was taking any different action either.  The NHL, MLB, the general medical community etc. were all way behind the times.  In fact, if you look at it, the NFL has actually been at the forefront of dealing with this issue (as it is in many health related issues such as drugs, PEDs, etc).  The general medical community still seems to be well behind the sports community in dealing with concussion issues.

5. Dave Duerson came out looking very bad in the movie.  The movie did not really give any background on him but having met him and had some other interactions, there are several important facts that were omitted.  First, he was removed from Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees because of a domestic violence charge which occurred while he was in South Bend for a trustees meeting.  He was on many other board, belonged to Medinah Country Club and was struggling to uphold his image.  He had a business that ran into significant financial difficulties and he was being investigated and sued on many levels relating to the collapse of his primary business (a meat packing plant that had contracts with McDonalds).  Again, not to minimize the impact that CTE may have had on him or his behavior (or business dealings), but these other issues could have been significant in his decision to take his own life.  Sadly, I had the opportunity to present at an event sponsored by an organization run by one of his closest friends. This friend was the first person to get to the body and cleaned up before the family got there. I got to see the actual photos he took of the bed, blood soaked sheets and the room.

6. Ira Casson, another one of the medical professionals on the NFL’s committees looked utterly ignorant with his blanket proclamations that there was no link to concussions or head trauma.

7. Junior Seau was anothe player that had tried to commit suicide on a few other occasions, before he was successful.

8. Omalu’s boss who was indicted is also a good reminder of the federal government that can choose to indict almost anyone for almost anything if you have any dealings with federal agencies or funding.  I don’t know the whole story in that case but would be interested to read more if anyone has the details.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions, many of which cannot be answered until we can identify CTE in living people.  I will make a list of these questions for next time.

One of the most important decisions that a college football player has to make is the selection of an agent to represent them in their mission to reach the NFL**. 

Unfortunately, there is nothing that prepares these players, nor their families for this process.   Just like the recruiting process in high school, the athletes go thru it one time.  The agents have typically been thru the process dozens or hundreds of times.  So the agents know the rules, know the hot-buttons and know how to manipulate the information into a format which is most digestible for the player and their family (or most slanted to the agent’s favor)

It is really an unfair advantage, and an unnecessary one.  The schools could do some basic education about the process.  This would arm their student-athletes with the information that is easily available.  It would allow the players to get a grip on the process before the agents start recruiting them.  We will have a follow up article about how the schools could do a better job educating players and managing the process, but for today, we are examining the most important things a player needs to know in order to select the best agent for themselves.

So here are 17 tips for making a good selection of an agent:

1. Big Names are not everything
2. Complete trust is the single most important element in choosing your agent
3. More money does not equal better representation
4. But, more money can help provide you with important services
5. Beware of promises
6. Do not believe everything you hear
7. Make sure that they behave professionally
8. Make sure that they have their own success(es)
9. Understand the process before you start
10. Best time to meet with agents is after Spring football before fall camp starts (for those who are planning ahead for next year)
11. There is nothing an agent can do for you during your senior season (legally)
12. Training facilities are rarely the differentiating factor
13. Beware of bundled services
14. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket
15. Make sure you are comfortable�fully comfortable
16. You have to be open and honest throughout the whole process
17. There is no rush-do your own due diligence

Big Names are not everything�it is great that some of the big names” are interested in representing you.   But you have to ask yourself the question, Is that the type of person/agency that I want to be represented by.”  There are many good independent agents so make sure you consider some of the following factors.  Your agent does not need to be with the biggest organizations.  The agent’s experience is definitely relevant, but the real question for you becomes the agent’s ability to service your needs.  Will the agent give you the personal attention you desire?  How much effort will they put in if your career runs into some bumps along the way?  Will they stick with you and help even if you fail to live up to the overall expectations.  I have heard many stories of players, even high draft picks, who failed to get proper help and communication from their agents because the player was running into difficulties and not living up to his potential.  While larger agencies can provide some additional perks and benefits, remember that the most important part of the agent’s role is to help guide you through the draft process and the contract negotiation.  The other perks are typically relatively minor in comparison.

Who do you fully trust?  TRUST is the #1 most important element in this relationship.  If you do not trust EVERYTHING that your agent is telling you (because of lack of experience, potential conflicts of interest, other agendas), then you will have a very difficult time having a productive relationship.  One of the hardest parts going into this process is the feeling that you are in it alone and you do not have anyone to trust.  The person you trust the most SHOULD be your agent.  If you do not get that feeling about an agent you are considering, (or that is currently representing you), then you should look elsewhere.  There will be many frustrations as the process proceeds, you need someone you can rely on, and someone you TRULY believe is giving you honest and accurate information (as opposed to the information that YOU want to hear or the information that THEY want you to hear).  Other players will yap in your ear, other agents will try to steal you away and often even college coaches, pro scouts and training facilities will try to have an impact on your selection.  If you fully trust your agent, that should just amount to background noise.  If you do not fully trust your agent, then that chatter will become a big distraction and continually create the doubt which will undermine your relationship with your agent.

More money does not equal better representation�Over the years I have seen many, many agents jump into the process, spend a ton of money, make a quick splash and then flame out quickly.   Often they flame out because they fail to properly evaluate prospects and spend in the wrong places.  Other times they flame out because they were more concerned about the splash and the image than they were about working hard on behalf of their clients.  Many people are not willing to put in the effort that it takes to represent athletes. Once they realize that the business side of being an agent is not about being at parties, events and games, they get easily discouraged.  While it is nice to be taken to an expensive dinner, and to be given other perks as part of the agent recruiting process, you would NEVER select other professionals (accountants, lawyers, financial advisors, etc.) by how much they spend entertaining you.  You should not select an agent based on that criteria either.

More money does help provide you with important services�Money is not necessarily evil.  Money is a very important element in this process.  No agent can represent you well without having the resources available.  Someone struggling in their own life may not be in a position to do a good job for you.  If they are stretched thin as a result of business demands, family demands, divorces, business failures or other draining events, their ability to help you might be limited.  It takes a lot of money to pay for the required travel, training and other expenditures that are part of the recruiting, training and draft process.  The biggest agencies can offer many of these perks, but there are many successful agents who operate in a smaller agency environment and do a terrific job for their clients.

Beware of promises�nobody can promise you what round you will be drafted in, what team will draft you or which teams will offer you opportunities as an undrafted free agent.  This is especially true early in the process when you have not had the Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine or any other all-star games, you have not been to the NFL Combine, and you have not gone through your pro-day workout.  People can give you a fairly accurate idea of where you might fit in to the overall ratings (based on earlier scouting reports), but you have to recognize that many of those rating systems are flawed and are only early projections.  Until the entire process is completed, you should be wary of these promises.  Do you own homework.  Each year there are significant changes between the top players projected coming into the season, and where they end up in the draft.   I once met with a father of a DL at Michigan.  He was upset because I told him his son was a 7^th round pick or free agent.  He said he had other agents promising him that he was probably a 2^nd round pick or at worst” a 3^rd round pick.  Needless to say, he signed with another agent and didn’t get drafted.  Just because one agent is giving you information you do not like to hear, that does not mean he/she does not believe in you.  In fact it might be a signal that they are being more honest with you.  If they did not want to represent you, they would not be recruiting you.

Do not believe everything you hear (or that is presented to you)�make sure that you understand the sources of the information being presented to you.  A lot of the information you receive from different agents should be the same.  If it is inconsistent with what several other agents have told you, it is worth further examination. Unfortunately, many agents misrepresent some or all of the following information:

• their client lists
• work that they have done for NFL players
• their work history and background
• contracts that they have negotiated
• how much their players rose” in draft rankings after they started representation
• the degree of customer service
• their ability to get your marketing/endorsement agreements
• the extent (and value) of their relationships around the league

Listen to everything that they say.  Study it carefully.  Do some of your own due diligence (as we explain later) or ask someone else that you trust to help.  Some of the misrepresentations are very well disguised and hidden.  In his book about the agent game (Illegal Procedure: A Sports Agent Comes Clean on the Dirty Business of College Football) , Josh Luchs gives some terrific examples of how agents completely changed projected draft orders of prior seasons early draft projections so that they could show how much they had helped their clients climb up the draft boards. 

Make sure that they are professional�you do not need someone else to party with.  You do not need a person who wants to hang out” with you.  The person you are hiring as an agent is there to provide you with professional services.  You have plenty of other people to hit the clubs with.  You agent needs to spend his time networking with scouts, player personnel and coaches.  In weeks like the Senior Bowl or the Combine he/she should be out late and working those networks.  But your agent has his/her role to perform, and if they are looking for the party scene, they are probably not a good choice to provide you with the professional service that you are looking for.  Obviously nothing wrong with the agent going out with you for dinner or drinks or spending time together at a club, but make sure you keep an eye on the frequency and extent to which they are living this lifestyle”

Make sure that they have their own success�This is one of the most important items.  If you agent is dependent on YOUR success, than that means they are not established and have not achieved their own success.  Even if you choose to select a less experienced agent, make sure that they have been successful in their prior endeavors (i.e. law practice, accounting, financial services, other business).  Too often I see players signing with individuals with no demonstrated track record of any kind.  They select someone they became close to (or often an agent or runner became close to the athlete with this in mind).  These are the situations where the agent can become dependent on the athlete’s success and that level of desperation may cause the agent to take actions which are not in the player’s interest (i.e. giving in too easily to contract demands, asking the player for loans, not taking trips or attending events that the agent should be at).  The professional track record of the agent you are selecting is very important.

Understand the process yourself before you start�This is something that you can easily do to help protect yourself.  DO NOT accept all information given to you by agents as a given.  Unfortunately, many of them want you to believe that they are giving you some proprietary secrets.  They rarely are.  Much of the information is available online through the NFLPA website or other easily accessible resources.  One of my pet peeves is that many of the schools do a very poor job of educating their athletes.  This failure allows the agents/runners to get closer to the players and provide them with information, misinformation or other inappropriate items.  If the schools took time to educate the players about this process earlier in their college careers, they would be reducing the perceived power and value the agents have.  A brief program of educating players would go a long way.  And by educate, I am not talking about the NCAA rules, university regulations or other life skills (though those are also important).  They need to educate the players specifically about the draft process, the agents, the timing, the expectations and the frustrations.  My analogy is this:  1) the universities’ refusal to educate the players about the agent process under the rationale of they don’t need to know about agents until they are done with college football because they don’t need an agent before that”; would be like saying, 2) I am not going to talk to my kids about sex, drugs and alcohol until they are done with high school because they don’t need to be doing any of those things during high school.”

Training facilities are rarely the differentiating factor�Training is important.  No question that good training can help you in the draft process.  Good performances at all-star games, the NFL Combine and your pro-day can go a long way to solidifying your draft position.  Read that again:  Solidifying.  Not necessarily changing.  If you talk to NFL personnel, they will tell you that most of your grade comes from your performance during your college career, your character and your perceived ability to contribute (taken from observations, conversations with your coaches and interviews).  Estimates vary, but I put the number at no more than 10% of your overall grade being determined by your actual physical performances at the NFL Combine and/or your pro-day.  So if you take that number, ask yourself how much better any one facility needs to be in order to have a dramatic impact on your draft position?  Find a place that you are comfortable with BUT DO NOT select your agent based on your like/dislike of a particular training facility.   Trust your agent to have you in a good spot.  If you are selecting an agent you like less because he has reserved slots at a training facility you like more you are asking for trouble.  I still believe the colleges could eliminate almost this entire problem by training their athletes for the combine.  Some schools do that, but at many schools the players training for the NFL Draft are viewed as a distraction rather than an asset and the staffs are happy to get them away from their current players.  I think many players would do well training in familiar environments with a support network in place and some familiarity.  Instead, the current trend seems to be to send the players away from their comfort zone, away from classes (if they still care about graduating), away from people that can allow them to be a normal person.  When they get in the draft culture”, they have too much unstructured free time which can often become difficult for many of the players to manage.

Beware of bundled services�I have never been a fan of the model that allows the agents to virtually require a player to utilize all of the services that they offer.  The important role of the agent is to be at the center of the circle with the player.  The other service providers should be independent people/organizations in order to provide the best chance for checks and balances.  If an agent says Don’t worry, I will take care of everything,” you should be concerned.  In today’s world, no one person has the ability to handle their duties as an agent, as well as issues relating to: insurance, marketing, financial management, marketing, social media, training and conditioning, nutrition, legal services, accounting, etc.  And just because you have a great relationship with one agent, that does not mean that you should necessarily be stuck with their people” for all of those services.  The most healthy structure for the athlete is where all of those services are provided by independent people that can serve as checks and balances and prevent misuse of power or help you through difficult times.

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket�related to the point above, I put this as a separate item just to make sure that you read it again.  Do not give any one person/organization all of the power.  Make sure that you develop a strong group and strong team to represent all of your interests.  The different perspectives of your team of professionals will give you a valuable overview of what is going on in your world.

Make sure that you are comfortable�Your doubts will only increase as times goes by.  If you are not comfortable now, you will probably not be comfortable later.  You need to go in with full confidence and excitement.

Have to be entirely open and honest throughout the process�Your job is to find the best agent.  Do not try to hold back information or play games with the agents.  The agent can only do as good of a job as you allow.  If you are holding back on your agent, that is a signal that you may not fully trust them (as discussed above).  That will be extremely detrimental to the agent’s ability to represent you.  As I often told my clients when they consulted me on legal issues, you have to tell me everything.”  We make decisions based on the information in front of us and we develop strategies which allow us to avoid landmines and other problems.  If there are hidden issues, that could undermine your own interests.  If you are unhappy or upset or uncertain about things along the way, you have to realize that is to be expected.  Your agent is there to help you resolve those issues and feelings.  But if you get upset about something and do not discuss it with your agent, you are not helping yourself.  You are building up the barriers and the resentment.  If you are ultimately not comfortable with the way your concerns are addressed or with the explanations you are given, then you may need to look for different representation.  However, if you fail to have the conversation with your current agent, you will not know the difference between normal insecurities and concerns as opposed to significant problems.  If you ultimately have ongoing problems, then look for someone you trust so that you can discuss with them whether your concerns are a sign of real problems, or just needing a different perspective.

The best time to interview and meet with agents is after spring football and before fall camp starts�We included this section in here for the players who are starting to think about this process for next year, or in the future.  Take advantage of the summer.   Most schools will let you meet with the agents on campus if the agents are registered with your school and your state (as they are supposed to be).  This demonstrates to the agent that you are in control of the process, that you intend to keep everything above board, and that you expect them to comply with all applicable regulations.  Whether you do it on campus or not, make sure you meet with several agents, hear their varying pitches and give some thought to which 2-3 agents you might want to consider as part of your final process after your senior year.  A lot can change during your senior season (for better and for worse).  Let the year play out.  Take the time to get to know the agents who are recruiting you.  See whether they honor your requests and give you the space to play your season without distracting you from the task at hand.  You will learn a lot about them when you observe how they treat you during this period and it should be considered an important part of the process.  So get those interviews out of the way when you are not playing football.  And then make sure you tell the agents that you need to concentrate on football.  The professionals in the industry understand that.  They will stay in touch but should not be intrusive and should not be disruptive your football schedule.

There is nothing an agent can do for you (legally) during your senior season�The most important thing you can do during your senior season is play football.  And play well.   Having a successful senior year greatly exceeds anything else that can be done in the draft process.  So by the time you select an agent (and they go to work on your behalf) recognize that YOU have done the hard part.   There is nothing an agent can legally do for you during your senior season that will help you in the process.  They cannot pay for things, cannot take you places and cannot do any of these things for your family and/or girlfriend.    Agents can stay in touch with you and are likely to email, text or call.  But they should do that at times that do not disrupt the demands of your football or school schedules.  Many will want to stop by and visit for a few minutes after games to show you that they are still interested in you.  But if you lay out the boundaries over the summer during your interviews, you should be able to expect the agents to respect those requests.  If an agent is doing improper things to recruit you, then you have to ask yourself whether they will be just as likely to do those things TO YOU at a later date.  Any promises which violate NCAA, university or NFLPA regulations should be an immediate concern to you about the long term viability of the representation relationship, even if the immediate reward/perk being offered is enticing.  You should report any improper activities to your compliance officer.***

There is no rush�Too many people rush the process. Too many agents will put pressure on you to make your decision. The reality is that other than selecting a training facility, the agent will have plenty of time to work on your behalf. I always told my clients I liked to have our representation in place prior to the Senior Bowl so that I could use that week to discuss my players with NFL personnel such as scouts, coaches and others that can influence the draft process.  You do not need to sign as you walk thru the tunnel after your bowl game.  You do not need to sign the day after you may have had a tough bowl loss.  This is an important decision.  Take the time to consider it properly.   If you have followed the advice above and have interviewed agents over the summer, you should feel less rushed when your senior season ultimately comes to an end. Larry Fitzgerald did not sign with an agent until very late in the draft process because he had a very good understanding of the process, had people around him who helped him through the process and knew he was going to be a very high pick.  He is an exception.  But the point is DO NOT MAKE A DECISION UNTIL YOU ARE FULLY COMFORTABLE.  Regardless of what pressures” are put on you by an agent, this decision is too important to rush.  Make sure you do your own due diligence or have someone you trust help you with that process.  The person helping you should NOT have any type of vested stake in the results of the investigation (i.e. should not be a current teammate, former teammate, college coach, university official or other players you know in the NFL—because each of these groups have significant potential conflicts of interest).  The only type of information you should get from those groups is their perspective on the type of service and the integrity of the agent you are asking about.  Remember, people will typically be VERY willing to tell you about things that they are unhappy about in their investigation. 

As you go through the process, remember that you are selecting a person to represent your interests in a high stakes professional career.  It is a very personal decision.  There are many very good agents who are qualified to represent you.  Think about your own values and the type of personalities you are comfortable with.  Those should be your guiding principles.

* This article can apply in principal to many other sports and the agent selection process involved therein.  Each sport has its own culture” and its own set of rules.  It is important to select someone familiar with the landscape for the sport you are playing because that makes it more likely that they will have at least some of the relationships which will assist in representing you.

** Though some players acknowledge their willingness to work their way up through the CFL or AFL, the reality is very few players make it on this path and nobody’s career goal is to play at that level (though some are willing to accept it).

***yes, I realize many people reading this will tell me that is a fairy tale expectation, but I still believe that if the players were given education and an easy mechanism to report this conduct, it could be handled more effectively by the universities, the NCAA and the NFLPA.

With the passing of Joe Paterno, there is a lot of debate about his legacy and how he will be remembered?  It is a shame that a historic coach with over 400 victories even has doubts that his main accomplishments were in mentoring athletes, helping them graduate and teaching them to become better people.  Yet, due to a variety of factors (some of his own doing and some outside of his control), Paterno’s reputation will bear a permanent tarnish.  Still, I believe that his accomplishments should not be completely nullified by his mistakes.  Our legacies are a complex interaction of the positive and negative things which have occurred during our life.  I hope that after reading these lessons you can help prevent this type of situation in your life/organization.

• Understand the risks of actions of those underneath you

Among the most underanalyzed areas in all of business are the risks and liabilities created by people who are below the upper management.  Many of these risks are not adequately explained to the employees and often the employees do not receive sufficient training to allow them to truly understand the consequences of their actions (or inactions).  If your organization does not implement a system to train and educate your employees to watch for things beyond the immediate scope of their employment you will suffer severe consequences.  Employees should be taught to question and critique things that are going on because they are your eyes and ears. 

• Deal with initial reports

Many times initial reports are vague and sketchy.  Victims or the individuals reporting the inappropriate activity are fearful, either for their personal safety or for their jobs.  In today’s economy, it is easier to ignore problems that you see than to jeopardize your own well-being.  It is difficult, but your organization needs to implement rewards and confidentiality elements to encourage and protect those that are trying to help you.

• Don’t ignore warning signs

Sometimes things just don’t make sense. Any one incident with one employee can mean nothing (i.e. working late, no vacations, always around).  But often, you actually have multiple people in an organization who are becoming suspicious of the same situation.  However, taken alone, their observations mean nothing.   Without a reasonable reporting system to encourage employees to provide you with this information, you ONLY have a random series of events in the eyes of the observers, instead of the clear pattern which exists when viewed within the sequence of the behaviors.  If something doesn’t add up, move on to a Step 4 without hesitation.

• Conduct thorough investigations

When the initial reports are vague and you have not received corroboration from other witnesses, it can be easy to ignore the allegations.  Often they are written off as a misunderstanding” or something taken out of context.  Do not be so quick to dismiss the claims.  Conduct a proper investigation using resources appropriate to the scale of the issues.  If police need to be involved, this is the appropriate time to do so.  The investigations that are hastily dismissed because people want to get on with their real” jobs are the ones that leave many stones unturned, many witnesses unquestioned and many issues waiting to cause problems at a later date.

• Cut the ties early

If there appear to be problems, severing the ties early can avert significant problems at a later date.  If you look at the Sandusky situation, PSU knew enough to remove him as a coach in 1999. Yet Sandusky was still allowed to remain connected to the program and use the facilities for a long period after that.  PSU’s athletic department continued to provide him access to the student-athletes, the facilities and many other perks of being around the program.  Reports surfaced this week that he was in the President of the University’s box at a football game just weeks before his arrest.  If they found out enough to remove him in 1999, the other elements should have been cut off as well.

• Be accountable in your role

This was a major failing at PSU and a terrific contrast with Syracuse.  At PSU the information and the details lay dormant for over a decade, allowing countless other alleged victims to suffer.  Nobody in PSU stepped up to make sure that the incidents got reported to the police and that a proper investigation was conducted.  The lack of accountability permeated every level of the university, something that ultimately resulted in the layers of problems.  At Syracuse, Chancellor Cantor stepped up quickly and acted decisively.  Perhaps aided by the immediacy of the PSU issues, Syracuse’s swift actions demonstrated its desire to be accountable as an institution, rather than working to protect an individual accused of these crimes (we will examine the double edge sword nature of this a bit later).

• Make those under you accountable in their roles

You can only make other accountable to you if you are accountable to them.  The clich� of respect being earned is one that fits aptly here.  There seemed to be a circular passing of the buck of the responsibility for dealing with the situation.  None of the people felt they had the obligation or the power to take the proper actions.  Whether this was all because of their fear of Joe Paterno or not, someone at the institutional level needed to be asking more questions about what was going on.

• Don’t try to cover up

Cover ups can create more damage than the crime.  We have seen that since Watergate.  If there was not an institutional cover-up going on at PSU it is very difficult to imagine that ALL of the elite leaders of the institution, acting independently, would have agreed to ignore the apparently overwhelming evidence.  In today’s media and technology driven world, things will not stay hidden for very long.  And in fact, the more you deny and try to hide from the truth, the more people will dig and dig until they find out the reality.  If you think that all witnesses and all evidence will remain out of sight you are kidding yourself.  And if you think your identity and details are secure and safe, go watch the TV show Person of Interest” on CBS.  While possibly exaggerated the point should be clear.  NOTHING you do or say is safe.  You have to assume every call is recorded, every email is read and every action you take is videotaped.  And then govern yourself accordingly.

• Do not attack the victims of overly” defend the accused

Nothing enrages the public more than attacking the victim.  Even if it has to be done in the context of an actual criminal trial (a tactic far too detailed and complex to deal with in this space), it should not be done in the media.   It alienates your supporters and makes your organization appear to be insensitive to the alleged victim.  If the victim is lying, you will have plenty of time to make your statements and issue your press releases.  But if you come out like Jim Boeheim attacking the accuser and defending Bernie Fine you will have trouble if the facts do not support you.  The biggest problem is that the people closest to the situation are often far too connected and involved to see the defects.  Remember that clich� about right under your nose.”   The best statement is one indicating that you are going to let the investigation play out, cooperate with the authorities and decide from there.

• PR from inaction typically worse than PR from overreaction

When a story breaks, the public wants to see some action.  Quick statements, calls for investigations, interim suspensions pending investigations and other proactive stances will generate a lot of goodwill on your side.  As we mentioned before, they could have a double edged sword because suspending or terminating someone before a full investigation could lead to institutional liability. Typically though, the lack of action will hurt the institution far more than overreacting since the overreaction can usually be corrected by announcing positive findings in an investigation or issuing a press release exonerating the accused. 

• Take responsibility

Everybody makes mistakes. EVERYBODY.  Nobody who is in a position of leadership has a perfect record.  They have regrets, decisions that could be second guessed, behaviors that they would not want to be made public and issues in their personal life they would not want exposed.  Step up and own the mistake.   Acknowledge the fault.  Accept the responsibility.  Indicate how you have learned from the mistake or what steps you have taken to ensure that it will not happen again. These actions not only reinforce your acceptance of the responsibility, they make you publicly accountable to ensure that it does not occur again.

• Apologize

We live in a VERY forgiving society.  Things will be on the news for a relatively short cycle.  Most of us in our lives do not receive the scrutiny of Joe Paterno, Jim Tressel, Bill Clinton or other high profile sports, entertainment or political figures.  If you apologize for your actions in a sincere fashion, you will earn a lot of respect DESPITE the severity of the mistake.  Had Bill Clinton apologized to the American people for his encounter” with Monica Lewinsky, he would have endured a week or two of ridicule rather than the extended ordeal he went through. Once you apologize, show your contrition and then move on.  Something else will come in the news cycle that will take you off the front page.  Your actions will never go away and you will need to live with yourself and live with the prospect of facing your victims or those you have wronged, but after you have apologized all you can do is move forward and try to regain the respect you have lost.

As Joe Paterno was laid to rest yesterday and has his public memorial today, the question we ask is What do you feel was Joe Paterno’s greatest accomplishment?”  In a perverse way, I feel that this whole scandal may ultimately result in the greatest positive impact on the most people.  It took a person of Paterno’s stature to shed the light on this issue, and he helped” it receive even more attention than other high profile occurrences within the church.  It is only when a man (or woman) of great stature suffers through an incredibly difficult time that the whole world notices.  Had Paterno reported and acted promptly on the Sandusky case in 1998, we would not be having this conversation.  His failure” may end up being the action which creates the greatest social change.  So let us know how you remember Paterno and what you feel his legacy should be.