Breaking News

Several media outlets have announced that the NFL owners have unanimously opted out of the current CBA - the effect of which presents the real possibility of a lockout in 2011 if a new agreement is not reached. It's actually a good thing that they opted out now as opposed to later in the year because now talks can begin immediately between the owners and Players Association.

While a lockout appears to be a last resort, the football world is well aware of the damage that can be done if an agreement is not reached. The negotiations are under way and we're all hoping the NFL can avoid a monumental catastrophe.

The clock is ticking......

DANGER LURKS

By Scott Daniels, Esq., NFL Draft Bible

With the 2008 NFL Draft officially in the books, fans across the country are anxiously awaiting the start of college football. It's been quite an offseason in the football world and although the gridiron battles are still months away, the legal drama in football is only beginning to heat up.

An optimist would tell you that college football couldn't be in a better place right now. Ratings are up and schools are raking in millions of dollars as a direct result. But it's not all smiles at the collegiate level.

How about the NFL? The most successful professional sport in America. The NFL is in great shape, right? Think again.

A dark cloud is looming over college and professional football and only the so-called football gods can predict the future. While rumors and speculation continue to run rampant, here's an update on some of the hottest - and potentially dangerous - stories that could be highly detrimental to college and professional football.

A Broken System
The BCS is a mess. The revolution has begun to implement some kind of playoff system in college football, but due to contractual obligations and stubborn school officials, the BCS will remain in college football through 2013 (includes Bowl games in 2014).

A recent proposal from Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, was immediately shot down by just about every major conference commissioner. The proposal called for a "Plus One" scenario where the top four teams would play a semi-final game followed by a championship game the very next week.

LEGAL SIGNIFICANCE: It's a tragedy that college football will remain at the mercy of a flawed system for at least the next four years. What's even more disparaging is knowing that the BCS will remain because of contractual obligations with the Rose Bowl and major television networks.

Bottom line is, contracts can legally be modified. Problem is, a change in the current system will lead to a decrease in profits for those currently under contract with the BCS. It is apparent that those in opposition to a playoff system are skeptical of changing a system that breaks revenue records year after year.

The Never Ending Conspiracy
Spygate is the story that just won't go away. It began immediately following week one of last year's NFL season and Roger Goodell has been trying to dispose of this matter ever since - no pun intended.

A potential bombshell may explode on May 13th when Matt Walsh, a former video assistant for the Patriots, will meet with Roger Goodell to divulge any information he may have regarding his role in "spying" on other teams.

LEGAL SIGNIFICANCE: Matt Walsh's meeting with the NFL is now long overdue. The NFL insists Spygate is a thing of the past and the Patriots organization have vehemently denied any further wrongdoing. If Walsh has any direct evidence, such as an actual video tape, Goodell will have to take swift action against Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization. Belichick and the team's owner, Robert Kraft, will most certainly argue that Walsh acted as a rogue employee and was not directed to tape such activity. However, from a legal standpoint, if Walsh is found to have acted within the scope of his employment responsibilities, the Patriot organization should certainly be held accountable for his wrongful actions.

Regardless of what ensues, Walsh has obtained a bullet-proof indemnification agreement from the NFL. He is fully protected from a civil suit and will be able to speak freely without the worry of being named as a defendant in a lawsuit. Walsh may however be called as a witness in other lawsuits should they occur after he speaks with Roger Goodell.

If Walsh only has verbal information to provide, Spygate will quickly disappear. Walsh's credibility is already in question and without any direct evidence of taping another team in violation of league rules, he will have very little ground to stand on.

A playoff system seems to be inevitable, but not in the very near future.

The End of a Dynasty?
The National Football League has catapaulted itself as the most successful league in American professional sports. Attendence is up. Ratings are up. The Superbowl remains to be by far the most watched sporting event in America each year. While it appears that the NFL will continue it's dominance for years to come, a quiet storm is brewing.

The wealth and prosperity that players and owners have enjoyed over the last ten years may come to a screeching halt in 2011. The current collective bargaining agreement will expire then and the owners can choose to opt out of the current agreement in November of this year. If that happens, the NFL could be facing a lockout in 2011.

LEGAL SIGNIFICANCE: The last time the NFL suffered a lockout was 1987 - under former commissioner Paul Tagliabue. With Roger Goodell as the new Sheriff in town, a lockout would almost seem unthinkable. The problem is, Goodell may not have any control on the situation. If the players and owners cannot come to an accord on revenue sharing, the owners will likely opt out of the current agreement.

End result? A work-stoppage in 2011 and the very real possibility of a cancelled NFL season.

Swimming With The Sharks

An Inside Look Into The Life of a Sports Agent

By Scott Daniels, Esq., NFL Draft Bible

Drew Rosenhaus. Leigh Steinberg. Scott Boras. What do these men have in common?

They think fast and they talk even faster. Their ability to negotiate deals on behalf of their clientele has catapulted these men into a league of their own. These men are among the elite in the sports agent world. And they've negotiated a myriad of multi-million dollar contracts for high profile professional athletes.

While their athletes are performing on the playing field, these agents are out and about hoping to find the next Reggie Bush or Peyton Manning.

But while the big agents have no problems recruiting talent, there's an entire army of smaller agents trying to break into the industry of representing professional athletes. Sports agents pride themselves on their reputations and they build it by maximizing the value of their client's worth. A feat that can only be accomplished through savvy negotiating and the ability to exploit a recognized talent.

So who are these other agents?

Well, I had the opportunity to interview an aspiring mogul in the sports agent industry. His name is Josh Stevens and he is quickly rising in the ranks of NFL player agents.

Stevens, a native New Yorker and graduate from the University of Maryland, has always been intrigued with the sales and marketing aspects of the sports world. After graduating from UM, Stevens obtained a law degree from St. Johns and quickly gained legal experience in an array of areas including criminal law, family law and landlord-tenant law.

When I asked Stevens if prospective clients took comfort in the fact that Stevens was an attorney as well as an agent, Stevens replied, "Yes, especially when speaking with prospective client's families. It instantly lends credibility to your work ethic and intelligence."

A huge misconception with the general public is that all player agents are attorneys. While a large portion may be lawyers, many agents are accountants or financial advisers. Stevens informed me that the NFL Players Association now requires all prospective agents to obtain a graduate degree, but no particular one is required.

Since Stevens is an attorney and an agent at the same time, he goes about his business with the advantage of being fully equipped with a legal education. But while he may have the license to practice law in the state of New York, Stevens makes it a point to inform his clients that he is acting on behalf of them as solely their agent, not their attorney.

Stevens makes it clear that he is acting in the capacity of the player's agent and not the players' attorney to avoid any conflicts of interest. The NFLPA requires agents to abide by a set of regulations and ethical standards, but an agent with a license to practice law has an additional set of ethical obligations that he or she must follow to maintain good standing.

In an industry where following the rules can end up costing you millions of dollars, sports agents across the globe have found themselves in precarious situations. How do you persuade an athlete to let him represent you in an age where only money does the talking?

Whatever happened to choosing an agent based on integrity or loyalty?

When I asked Stevens about the notion of agents deliberately violating NCAA rules when recruiting athletes, he replied, "I'm sure it's rampant, but I work with another attorney. And as attorneys, we are held to a higher standard and a different set of rules. It's not worth jeopardizing the risk of losing your license to practice law."

With collegiate sports generating millions of dollars and the players not seeing a dime, the student-athlete becomes an easy target for an agent willing to violate the rules if it means locking up a future all-pro. Whether it's a new car, a house, or cold hard cash, agents have been known to attract athletes with just about anything.

As for the competitiveness of the industry today, Stevens said, "it's extremely cut-throat. No established agent wants to assist anyone getting into the industry unless they already have built in connections with prospective clients."

Finally, I asked Stevens what his personal opinions were of Drew Rosenhaus and Scott Boras, mega successful agents who have the reputation of being incredibly difficult to deal with. Stevens commented, "Their work ethic is phenomenal and only inspires people like me to keep going." I found this interesting seeing that both of these agents have received damaging press lately and have tarnished the image of the "sports agent."

Nonetheless, Stevens respects his competition and admires their success.

Since his inception as a certified sports agent, Stevens has represented numerous players vying for a spot in the NFL and he has several players hoping to get selected in this year's draft.

Stevens has already made his mark in the industry and he's only just begun. But one thing is for sure; the life of a sports agent is not all glitz and glamour. It takes dedication, hard work and maybe even a little bit of luck. Millions of dollars are at stake and since the vast majority of NFL contracts are not guaranteed, it is crucial for a player to earn as much as possible, as soon as possible.

It is the job of the player agent to broker a dream-turned-reality for the athlete. But more importantly, it is the agent's job to make sure the deal gets done at all.

First Ban by The NFL?

By Scott Daniels, Esq., NFL Draft Bible

You know it's pretty bad when even the Cincinnati Bengals no longer want you on their roster because of disciplinary problems.

Assault. Possession of marijuana. Concealment of a weapon. Aggravated assault with a firearm. Providing alcohol to minors. Alleged sexual mischief. And the list goes on.

That wasn't a list of the various crimes NFL players commit on an annual basis. That was a list of crimes that former Bengal Chris Henry has committed during his tenure in the NFL.

How about these numbers? In a three year period, Henry was arrested five times in three different states. Four of those arrests took place within a fourteen month window.

Henry may be a talented athlete, but his ability to get tangled up with the law is staggering. Statistically speaking, he has a promising career as a lifetime criminal.

While everyone is wondering what Roger Goodell is going to do with him, that should be the least of his problems. Henry could be facing serious jail time and looking at his rap sheet, any judge would be silly to not impose a harsh sentence.

Henry is a repeat offender. In fact, he has abused the term. The man clearly has no interest in maintaining a professional standard and he has no business representing himself as a player in the National Football League.

Roger Goodell has only one choice. Henry should be suspended indefinitely pending a judicial outcome of his current charges. If he is found guilty of his current charges of assault and criminal damaging, then Henry should be banned from the league.

Regardless of the fact that Henry has been exonerated on a few charges in the past, he has surrounded himself with numerous criminal probes that have seriously damaged the reputation of all NFL players.

Whether or not Goodell allows Henry to play in the NFL again, Henry's image is already a disgrace. If he's lucky, Henry may play football again, but most likely not in the NFL.

MOSS APPEAL

By Scott Daniels, Esq., NFL Draft Bible

Randy Moss is arguably the most captivating wide receiver in the NFL. He is also one of the most controversial.

 

Moss dazzled fans in Minnesota with his blazing speed and ability to go up and virtually steal the football from mid-air. The Culpepper-Moss tandem was by far one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the last decade. But while Moss was quickly becoming a superstar, his individuality took center stage after he walked off the field during the end of a game while playing for Minnesota.

 

While there was only seconds remaining in that game, fans across the country proclaimed Moss a quitter and a cancer in the locker room.

 

Moss's legal resume dates back to 1996 where he faced charges stemming from an altercation with the mother of his child. The charges were eventually dropped.

 

In 2002, Moss was back in the news after physically bumping a traffic cop with his vehicle and his latest run-in with the law involved an alleged dispute with a woman at her Florida home in January of this year.

 

Earlier this month, the alleged victim, Rachelle Washington, petitioned the court to request that her case against Moss be dismissed. Several media outlets have jumped the gun and immediately began to report that all charges against Moss have been dropped. This is entirely not the case.

 

Washington had obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Moss in early January. She received it "ex parte," which means that she got the TRO without informing Moss, which is perfectly legal. In Moss's case, the TRO directed him to refrain from going within 500 feet of Washington.

 

It's fairly easy to obtain a TRO and the party it's directed towards has no involvement in the proceeding until the actual hearing to determine whether or not the TRO will become a permanent restraining order.

 

No criminal charges were filed against Moss and Washington never filed a civil case against him. In the end, charges against Moss were not dropped because charges never existed.

 

The bottom line is, the media is obsessed with superstar athletes and their legal problems. Although it's unfortunate for Moss, once his name is dropped in the news, the assumption is that he is in trouble with the law. 

 

It has become an American passion to watch our star athletes succumb to our nation's legal system and Moss has become the latest victim of this phenomenon. In this case, the public was privy to a flurry of allegations and rumors and all we knew was that a temporary restraining order was granted. That doesn't sound like a ton of information.

 

Once the story hit the news wires, many depicted Moss as a criminal. Now that Washington has dropped her restraining order against Moss, those same people are condemning Washington and coming to the defense of Moss. Meanwhile, the public knows practically nothing about the actual incident.

 

Rumors are beginning to surface that Moss entered into a settlement agreement with Washington, but it would seem odd to me seeing that the case involved a restraining order and not a civil action against Moss.

 

If there was a payment by Moss, the public will eventually find out, most likely by way of a court filing. And while Moss can get on with his already stellar career, the public's perception of him remains to be suspect.

Happy Valley's Legal Woes Continue

By Scott Daniels, Esq., NFL Draft Bible

The football program at Penn State has always been revered for it's class and demeanor. The infamous blue and white helmets have forever been synonymous with a "blue-collar work ethic" and the Nittany Lions have long refused to take top notch athletes who don't present genuine individual character.

Their field general, the beloved Joe Paterno, is a living legend in college football due in most part for his ability to win with upstanding, disciplined individuals, not just athletic specimens.

As of recent, Penn State's unblemished image is beginning to resemble that of the 2007 Cincinnati Bengals. Numerous football players are seeing more of the court room and less of the weight room this offseason.

The latest incident involved Andrew Quarless, a sophomore tight end, who was suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules. To make matters worse, Quarless is no stranger to trouble on campus. Quarless was already suspended last season for underage drinking and missed the first two regular season games of 2007.

Quarless becomes the sixth Penn State football player to be arrested this offseason and the team's legal problems range from disorderly conduct to campus brawls. I know these kids are still in college, but six player arrests in one offseason is downright embarrassing.

What these players don't realize is that their detrimental off-the-field conduct, although it's occurring at the collegiate level, will have monumental effects on their potential professional careers. Millions of dollars are at stake for those chosen to play in the NFL and character has evolved into a mandatory piece of criteria for NFL scouts when evaluating players.
(see http://nfldraftbiblethelegalline.blogspot.com/2007/08/legal-line-vol-ii.html).

Hopefully, Joepa can remedy an already tumultuous off season for the Nittany Lions. It seems that his players are in need of some guidance and supervision. Not that Penn State football players need to be reminded, but in the eyes of the law, collegiate athletes are held to the same standard of conduct as regular students.

Maybe Joepa needs to remind his team what made them so successful in the first place.

Where's Reggie?

By Scott Daniels, Esq., NFL Draft Bible

The long awaited deposition of Reggie Bush came and went this past Monday. One problem. Bush wasn't there.

 

Bush was scheduled to be deposed on Monday, February 25 by attorneys for Lloyd Lake, the apparent sports agent who allegedly gave thousands of dollars to Bush and his family during Bush's playing days at USC.

 

Lake sued Bush for breach of contract and is seeking damages in the amount of $291 thousand. While the suit is well under way, neither Lake or Bush have yet to be deposed.

 

Lake walked out of his deposition after one of Bush's security members flashed a gun. Normal.

 

On Monday, Bush simply failed to show up for his deposition. Bush's lawyer did provide notice that he would not be attending but rumors are beginning to surface that Bush's legal team is trying to prevent the NCAA from getting a transcript of his deposition testimony.

 

Bush has repeatedly denied taking any money or gifts while at USC but the evidence against him is starting to pile up. Bush settled another case with Michael Michael's, Lake's former business associate, for an undisclosed amount of money. Most notably, a damaging book has been written detailing numerous alleged financial transactions between Bush, Lake and Michaels.

 

At the very least, this is starting to become a public relations nightmare for Bush. However, all of these allegations concern his collegiate career, so Bush does not have to worry about being sanctioned by the NFL, but his reputation as an honorable collegiate athlete could be destroyed.

 

Oh, and that peice of hardware he took home in 2006 is also at stake. If the NCAA discovers he took any cash or gifts while playing football for USC, Bush will be deemed ineligible pursuant to NCAA rules. Therefore, he would be stripped from his Heisman Trophy award.

 

Bush's camp had little to say about his unavailability for the deposition Monday, but the fact that his lawyers want to prevent the NCAA from getting his deposition testimony infers that Bush may have something to hide. If he admits to taking cash or gifts from Lake or anyone else, once NCAA investigators get wind of this, he is sure to lose his Heisman.

In the alternative, if Bush settles with Lake out of court, he may be able to avoid NCAA penalties by requiring Lake to agree to a confidentiality agreement where all parties would be prevented from discussing the case in exchange for the agreed upon settlement amount. Bush could say he paid Lake to avoid litigation and may not have to admit a single thing.

If Bush settles, it would not look good in the court of public opinion. A settlement with Lake would confirm public speculation that he took money while playing for USC. Bush will have to eventually show up for a deposition and judging by what we have seen already, there's no telling what we will learn from him.