Griff
June-8th-2005, 09:32 AM
I found this, it was an interesting read.
AGENT PROVOCATEUR
October 4, 2003
Buffalo News
http://www.prosportsgroup.com/images/Agents/drew2.jpg
The minute Drew Rosenhaus rolls into the Miami Dolphins' practice complex in his sleek black Hummer, he is shaking hands, making friends and influencing people.
With his perfectly tailored dark suit, slicked-back hair and forceful personality, he certainly looks the part of a sports super-agent. The action moves to an adjacent lot where Rosenhaus is being interviewed by HBO for a story about him that will air on the cable network.
Between takes, Rosenhaus answers calls on his four - yes four - cell phones while also carrying on four different conversations on four different topics.
"All in a day's work, my man," he says with a smile. "This isn't a job to us. It's a way of life."
And what a life it is. Since bursting on the scene in the late 1980s, the 36-year-old Rosenhaus has become the most recognized - and controversial - professional sports agent in the business.
Rosenhaus and his younger brother, Jason, have a client list that is a Who's Who of NFL talent, including Warren Sapp, Jevon Kearse, Jeremy Shockey, Fred Taylor, Zach Thomas, Clinton Portis and Willis McGahee.
The Rosenhaus brothers have 16 players from the University of Miami and 10 on the Miami Dolphins. No agent has more clients from one school or NFL team.
Rosenhaus has been the subject of stories in national magazines and newspapers. He has been a frequent guest on television and talk radio shows. He was even a consultant on "Jerry Maguire," an Academy Award-nominated film about a sports agent.
Rosenhaus, who is not married, is popular, and he loves the attention.
"If someone offered me a billion dollars (to do something else) I still say I'd continue to do this," Rosenhaus said in a recent interview with The Buffalo News. "I couldn't envision doing anything else. We love what we do. We have a passion for it. We live, eat, sleep, drink it."
You won't find many people who don't have an opinion about Drew Rosenhaus.
To his clients, he is a tireless worker who does whatever it takes to, uh, show them the money.
To NFL front office types, he can be a pain in the rear end, but is generally considered a respected negotiator.
Some of Rosenhaus' colleagues, however, call him a cancer, a low life and much worse because of how he does business.
Rosenhaus has created such a buzz that Sports Illustrated made him the first agent to appear on its cover a few years ago. His picture was accompanied by the headline, "The most hated man in pro football."
Rosenhaus insists he is not as bad a guy as he's been portrayed. But he points out that he wouldn't be getting all this attention if he weren't doing something right.
"I think Jason and I have become such a success in this business because we're naturals for it and we're the best at it," Rosenhaus said. "What does it take to be the best? You've got to work at it. You've got to be aggressive and you've got to know your stuff.
"No one works harder at studying contracts (than) Jason and I. And nobody tries harder to work at their rapport with teams than Jason and I. And nobody works harder to maintain a balance and a relationship with their clients and their families than we do."
A Shark Never Sleeps
As kids growing up in Miami, Drew and Jason Rosenhaus were huge Dolphins fans. They both dreamed of playing football, but quickly realized they were better in the classroom than on the field.
When Drew headed off to the University of Miami, his goal was to become a sportscaster. But those plans changed. While tutoring players, he got the inspiration to become an agent.
At age 22, Rosenhaus talked with North Carolina Central cornerback Robert Massey into letting him handle Massey's rookie contract negotiations with the New Orleans Saints, who drafted him in the second round in 1989.
Shortly before talks with then General Manager Jim Finks were to begin, Rosenhaus called producers of ESPN and invited them to broadcast the negotiations. With millions of Americans looking on, Rosenhaus went from an unknown to a rising star.
Since then, he and his brother have negotiated more than a billion dollars in contracts using a take-no-prisoners style.
"Without a doubt, our reputation is such that we're known as the hardest working agents, period," said Jason Rosenhaus, a lawyer and certified public accountant. "We are always pushing forward and we are relentless in our effort to be the best."
The brothers' Miami Beach home serves as their base of operations. Inside the house is a large fish tank that contains a pet shark.
Competitors have often referred to Drew Rosenhaus as a shark. His 1997 autobiography is titled "A Shark Never Sleeps," so it's a comparison he embraces.
"A shark is a relentless predator that is goal-oriented and focused on its objective around the clock," he said. "It never rests, it never wavers, it is always on the clock. That's how we are. We're always working, always making the effort to get the job done."
The brothers feel they have an advantage over agents who work for large corporations because they provide a personal touch. They call each of their approximately 50 clients every day.
There are no buffers between them and their clients. The only other person the Rosenhauses bring into their dealings with players is Robert Bailey, a former client of 13 years who now helps them with marketing their clients.
"You see a lot of agents split up or leave the firm they work for," Jason Rosenhaus said. "Our clients know that's never going to happen to us. Our mother wouldn't allow it."
Under Duress From His Peers
In 1997, Tim Irwin reportedly stood in front of 250 fellow agents in Indianapolis and said, "There is a cancer growing in our profession."
Irwin, a former NFL offensive lineman, then walked over to where Drew Rosenhaus was sitting and added, "The cancer starts in South Florida."
For years, competing agents have been highly critical of the way Drew Rosenhaus does business. He's been accused of stealing clients, falsifying information or outright lying to improve his negotiating position.
Denver-based Peter Schaffer speaks for many agents who have nothing but contempt for Rosenhaus's ways of doing business.
"I don't dislike Drew Rosenhaus," Schaffer said by phone. "I don't socialize with him. I won't talk to him. But what I do as a sports attorney is take what I do seriously. I believe that we are professionals and are hired to represent professionals in an honest and ethical manner. And anybody that doesn't do that and plays to that level hurts our business, hurts the players and our clients and hurts the reputation that we worked long and hard to try to create."
Irwin once accused Rosenhaus of recruiting Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Shane Burton in 1995 while Burton was still under contract with Irwin. Other agents have made similar claims.
"I've stated my views on Mr. Rosenhaus many times and don't want to get into it again," Irwin said earlier this week. "But I would not allow him to represent my son."
It should be noted that the National Football League has never had to investigate Rosenhaus. But Schaffer said it's virtually impossible to press charges against Rosenhaus because the allegations are hard to prove.
"Any players that sign with him aren't likely to testify against him," Schaffer said. "But there's no doubt in my mind that he purposely interferes with existing relationships between agents and their players."
Rosenhaus denies the allegations. He said most of the players he signs came to him with the endorsements of his other clients.
"We're successful because we put in the time, and players know from our track record that we're going to work hard for them," he said.
"Fundamentally, we don't ever recruit a player that has an agent either directly or indirectly. The only time we gain a client is if that player approaches us, at which point we are allowed to talk to them, or if that player doesn't have an agent.
"Jason and I are never going to do anything that will jeopardize our careers or the clients who depend on us. So we're aboveboard in every capacity as it relates to doing our job."
Doing Whatever It Takes
Rosenhaus won't admit to stealing clients, but admitted he would do almost anything to gain an advantage.
In 1995, he hoodwinked the Dolphins into giving free agent tight end Eric Green a contract for $2 million a year by leading them to believe another team had topped Miami's original offer of $1.88 million a year.
McGahee's situation is a perfect example of the lengths to which Rosenhaus will go to get his player drafted. McGahee was expected to be one of the first five players selected before tearing three ligaments in his left knee during the Fiesta Bowl in January.
As the first round of the draft was wrapping up, an ESPN audience watched a dejected McGahee get a call on his cell phone. It was later revealed that the call was from Rosenhaus, who was sitting next to him. The intent was to make teams believe they were talking to other clubs.
A few minutes later, McGahee's phone rang again. This time it was the Bills, who took him with the 23rd overall selection.
Immediately afterward, Rosenhaus suggested that he influenced the Bills into taking McGahee, a claim he later backed away from. The Bills insisted all along that McGahee was their choice long before the staged cell phone caper.
Rosenhaus' detractors say such tactics destroy an agent's credibility. They feel the best deals are made on mutual trust, not deception.
"What he does is promulgate an unfortunate stereotype that agents have when he admits that he lies and cheats," said Schaffer, whose clients include Trevor Pryce and Eddie George. "There are a lot of quality agents out there that have gotten good deals for their clients without resorting to that. Anybody who openly admits to lying and cheating has no place in this business. It's wrong."
Loved By Clients
Drew Rosenhaus feels the criticism he gets is based more on sour grapes and professional jealousy than actual facts. He said the personal attacks by other agents have never bothered him.
"The only knocks we get are from our competitors," he said. "I don't have anything personal against other agents in any capacity. But we are very competitive and it's our goal to be the top agents in the business and we're determined to do that."
When it comes to Rosenhaus' clients, they have nothing but love for him. He is a great communicator and he relates to the players very well, even though his childhood upbringing was more fortunate than some of the people he represents.
While Rosenhaus' opponents are swearing at him, his clients swear by him.
"Drew treats his clients in a first-class fashion whether you are a first-round draft pick or a free agent looking for a job," said Dolphins offensive guard Jamie Nails, a former Bill who signed with Rosenhaus on the recommendation of ex-Bills defensive back Daryl Porter.
"Drew is always looking out for you. He cares and he's always there when you need him. There's no situation or problem he can't take care of or find somebody who can take care of it for you."
"Drew is the man," said Thomas, the Dolphins' middle linebacker who signed with Rosenhaus in 1997 and got a $33.75 million contract in March. "If he says he's going to do something he gets it done. He's the best."
McGahee said he was overwhelmed by Rosenhaus' personality and persistence.
"He just kept coming at me. He kept trying," McGahee said. "He was like a little gnat that won't go away. A lot of the guys he has, like Jeremy Shockey, they told me how good he was. I wanted to find out for myself and he showed he was the right man for the job."
Bills President and General Manager Tom Donahoe thinks Rosenhaus has changed for the better when it comes to negotiating. As the Pittsburgh Steelers' director of football operations, Donahoe and Rosenhaus clashed over a bitter contract dispute involving Green in 1994.
"He's a lot better to deal with," said Donahoe, who described working with Rosenhaus on McGahee's deal as pleasurable. "Early in his career he was very confrontational. He had a take-it-or-leave-it type of attitude. He wasn't going to take anything less than a certain amount. It didn't make any difference what we said or what the circumstances were.
"But now he's become a guy that you can work with. You can reason through issues with him and actually come to a middle ground where you're not going to get everything you want and he's not going to get everything he wants."
He's Only Just Begun
Unlike most sports agents, Rosenhaus loves being in the spotlight. He's open and accessible, which has added to his popularity with the media.
His work on movies such as "Jerry Maguire" and "Any Given Sunday," the draft-day antics on ESPN and the countless profiles in national publications have elevated his celebrity beyond that of any sports agent before him.
"Early in my career, I made the observation that there are a lot of agents," he said. "It wasn't enough for me to be just another agent. I had to stand out, and the only way to do that was by getting as much exposure as I possibly could.
"I'm not an egomaniac, but I do recognize that exposure is a plus when you're recruiting players. College guys know the name. Professional guys find comfort with familiarity and recognition."
Rosenhaus has become as synonymous with Miami as the Dolphins and South Beach. He even hosts a local television sports segment on Sunday nights.
Rosenhaus' popularity goes beyond just football. A number of national shows seek his opinion on a variety of sports-related topics.
"What is interesting is we probably got about a dozen calls to do shows about the Kobe Bryant case and I don't represent NBA players and never have," Rosenhaus said. "But they wanted to talk to me because of the fact that we've developed a high profile, and I think we're respected in that capacity. That's extremely rewarding to me."
The most rewarding part of Rosenhaus' job is seeing players and their families achieve financial security. He and Jason Rosenhaus take pride in the relationship they have with their clients.
"Jason and I are like brothers with all our clients," Drew Rosenhaus said. "We love our clients and that's one of the big reasons for our success."
Despite all their successes, Drew Rosenhaus has a warning to the competition. They are just getting started.
http://www.prosportsgroup.com/SportsAgentNews/Oct2003/News/rosenhaus.htm
AGENT PROVOCATEUR
October 4, 2003
Buffalo News
http://www.prosportsgroup.com/images/Agents/drew2.jpg
The minute Drew Rosenhaus rolls into the Miami Dolphins' practice complex in his sleek black Hummer, he is shaking hands, making friends and influencing people.
With his perfectly tailored dark suit, slicked-back hair and forceful personality, he certainly looks the part of a sports super-agent. The action moves to an adjacent lot where Rosenhaus is being interviewed by HBO for a story about him that will air on the cable network.
Between takes, Rosenhaus answers calls on his four - yes four - cell phones while also carrying on four different conversations on four different topics.
"All in a day's work, my man," he says with a smile. "This isn't a job to us. It's a way of life."
And what a life it is. Since bursting on the scene in the late 1980s, the 36-year-old Rosenhaus has become the most recognized - and controversial - professional sports agent in the business.
Rosenhaus and his younger brother, Jason, have a client list that is a Who's Who of NFL talent, including Warren Sapp, Jevon Kearse, Jeremy Shockey, Fred Taylor, Zach Thomas, Clinton Portis and Willis McGahee.
The Rosenhaus brothers have 16 players from the University of Miami and 10 on the Miami Dolphins. No agent has more clients from one school or NFL team.
Rosenhaus has been the subject of stories in national magazines and newspapers. He has been a frequent guest on television and talk radio shows. He was even a consultant on "Jerry Maguire," an Academy Award-nominated film about a sports agent.
Rosenhaus, who is not married, is popular, and he loves the attention.
"If someone offered me a billion dollars (to do something else) I still say I'd continue to do this," Rosenhaus said in a recent interview with The Buffalo News. "I couldn't envision doing anything else. We love what we do. We have a passion for it. We live, eat, sleep, drink it."
You won't find many people who don't have an opinion about Drew Rosenhaus.
To his clients, he is a tireless worker who does whatever it takes to, uh, show them the money.
To NFL front office types, he can be a pain in the rear end, but is generally considered a respected negotiator.
Some of Rosenhaus' colleagues, however, call him a cancer, a low life and much worse because of how he does business.
Rosenhaus has created such a buzz that Sports Illustrated made him the first agent to appear on its cover a few years ago. His picture was accompanied by the headline, "The most hated man in pro football."
Rosenhaus insists he is not as bad a guy as he's been portrayed. But he points out that he wouldn't be getting all this attention if he weren't doing something right.
"I think Jason and I have become such a success in this business because we're naturals for it and we're the best at it," Rosenhaus said. "What does it take to be the best? You've got to work at it. You've got to be aggressive and you've got to know your stuff.
"No one works harder at studying contracts (than) Jason and I. And nobody tries harder to work at their rapport with teams than Jason and I. And nobody works harder to maintain a balance and a relationship with their clients and their families than we do."
A Shark Never Sleeps
As kids growing up in Miami, Drew and Jason Rosenhaus were huge Dolphins fans. They both dreamed of playing football, but quickly realized they were better in the classroom than on the field.
When Drew headed off to the University of Miami, his goal was to become a sportscaster. But those plans changed. While tutoring players, he got the inspiration to become an agent.
At age 22, Rosenhaus talked with North Carolina Central cornerback Robert Massey into letting him handle Massey's rookie contract negotiations with the New Orleans Saints, who drafted him in the second round in 1989.
Shortly before talks with then General Manager Jim Finks were to begin, Rosenhaus called producers of ESPN and invited them to broadcast the negotiations. With millions of Americans looking on, Rosenhaus went from an unknown to a rising star.
Since then, he and his brother have negotiated more than a billion dollars in contracts using a take-no-prisoners style.
"Without a doubt, our reputation is such that we're known as the hardest working agents, period," said Jason Rosenhaus, a lawyer and certified public accountant. "We are always pushing forward and we are relentless in our effort to be the best."
The brothers' Miami Beach home serves as their base of operations. Inside the house is a large fish tank that contains a pet shark.
Competitors have often referred to Drew Rosenhaus as a shark. His 1997 autobiography is titled "A Shark Never Sleeps," so it's a comparison he embraces.
"A shark is a relentless predator that is goal-oriented and focused on its objective around the clock," he said. "It never rests, it never wavers, it is always on the clock. That's how we are. We're always working, always making the effort to get the job done."
The brothers feel they have an advantage over agents who work for large corporations because they provide a personal touch. They call each of their approximately 50 clients every day.
There are no buffers between them and their clients. The only other person the Rosenhauses bring into their dealings with players is Robert Bailey, a former client of 13 years who now helps them with marketing their clients.
"You see a lot of agents split up or leave the firm they work for," Jason Rosenhaus said. "Our clients know that's never going to happen to us. Our mother wouldn't allow it."
Under Duress From His Peers
In 1997, Tim Irwin reportedly stood in front of 250 fellow agents in Indianapolis and said, "There is a cancer growing in our profession."
Irwin, a former NFL offensive lineman, then walked over to where Drew Rosenhaus was sitting and added, "The cancer starts in South Florida."
For years, competing agents have been highly critical of the way Drew Rosenhaus does business. He's been accused of stealing clients, falsifying information or outright lying to improve his negotiating position.
Denver-based Peter Schaffer speaks for many agents who have nothing but contempt for Rosenhaus's ways of doing business.
"I don't dislike Drew Rosenhaus," Schaffer said by phone. "I don't socialize with him. I won't talk to him. But what I do as a sports attorney is take what I do seriously. I believe that we are professionals and are hired to represent professionals in an honest and ethical manner. And anybody that doesn't do that and plays to that level hurts our business, hurts the players and our clients and hurts the reputation that we worked long and hard to try to create."
Irwin once accused Rosenhaus of recruiting Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Shane Burton in 1995 while Burton was still under contract with Irwin. Other agents have made similar claims.
"I've stated my views on Mr. Rosenhaus many times and don't want to get into it again," Irwin said earlier this week. "But I would not allow him to represent my son."
It should be noted that the National Football League has never had to investigate Rosenhaus. But Schaffer said it's virtually impossible to press charges against Rosenhaus because the allegations are hard to prove.
"Any players that sign with him aren't likely to testify against him," Schaffer said. "But there's no doubt in my mind that he purposely interferes with existing relationships between agents and their players."
Rosenhaus denies the allegations. He said most of the players he signs came to him with the endorsements of his other clients.
"We're successful because we put in the time, and players know from our track record that we're going to work hard for them," he said.
"Fundamentally, we don't ever recruit a player that has an agent either directly or indirectly. The only time we gain a client is if that player approaches us, at which point we are allowed to talk to them, or if that player doesn't have an agent.
"Jason and I are never going to do anything that will jeopardize our careers or the clients who depend on us. So we're aboveboard in every capacity as it relates to doing our job."
Doing Whatever It Takes
Rosenhaus won't admit to stealing clients, but admitted he would do almost anything to gain an advantage.
In 1995, he hoodwinked the Dolphins into giving free agent tight end Eric Green a contract for $2 million a year by leading them to believe another team had topped Miami's original offer of $1.88 million a year.
McGahee's situation is a perfect example of the lengths to which Rosenhaus will go to get his player drafted. McGahee was expected to be one of the first five players selected before tearing three ligaments in his left knee during the Fiesta Bowl in January.
As the first round of the draft was wrapping up, an ESPN audience watched a dejected McGahee get a call on his cell phone. It was later revealed that the call was from Rosenhaus, who was sitting next to him. The intent was to make teams believe they were talking to other clubs.
A few minutes later, McGahee's phone rang again. This time it was the Bills, who took him with the 23rd overall selection.
Immediately afterward, Rosenhaus suggested that he influenced the Bills into taking McGahee, a claim he later backed away from. The Bills insisted all along that McGahee was their choice long before the staged cell phone caper.
Rosenhaus' detractors say such tactics destroy an agent's credibility. They feel the best deals are made on mutual trust, not deception.
"What he does is promulgate an unfortunate stereotype that agents have when he admits that he lies and cheats," said Schaffer, whose clients include Trevor Pryce and Eddie George. "There are a lot of quality agents out there that have gotten good deals for their clients without resorting to that. Anybody who openly admits to lying and cheating has no place in this business. It's wrong."
Loved By Clients
Drew Rosenhaus feels the criticism he gets is based more on sour grapes and professional jealousy than actual facts. He said the personal attacks by other agents have never bothered him.
"The only knocks we get are from our competitors," he said. "I don't have anything personal against other agents in any capacity. But we are very competitive and it's our goal to be the top agents in the business and we're determined to do that."
When it comes to Rosenhaus' clients, they have nothing but love for him. He is a great communicator and he relates to the players very well, even though his childhood upbringing was more fortunate than some of the people he represents.
While Rosenhaus' opponents are swearing at him, his clients swear by him.
"Drew treats his clients in a first-class fashion whether you are a first-round draft pick or a free agent looking for a job," said Dolphins offensive guard Jamie Nails, a former Bill who signed with Rosenhaus on the recommendation of ex-Bills defensive back Daryl Porter.
"Drew is always looking out for you. He cares and he's always there when you need him. There's no situation or problem he can't take care of or find somebody who can take care of it for you."
"Drew is the man," said Thomas, the Dolphins' middle linebacker who signed with Rosenhaus in 1997 and got a $33.75 million contract in March. "If he says he's going to do something he gets it done. He's the best."
McGahee said he was overwhelmed by Rosenhaus' personality and persistence.
"He just kept coming at me. He kept trying," McGahee said. "He was like a little gnat that won't go away. A lot of the guys he has, like Jeremy Shockey, they told me how good he was. I wanted to find out for myself and he showed he was the right man for the job."
Bills President and General Manager Tom Donahoe thinks Rosenhaus has changed for the better when it comes to negotiating. As the Pittsburgh Steelers' director of football operations, Donahoe and Rosenhaus clashed over a bitter contract dispute involving Green in 1994.
"He's a lot better to deal with," said Donahoe, who described working with Rosenhaus on McGahee's deal as pleasurable. "Early in his career he was very confrontational. He had a take-it-or-leave-it type of attitude. He wasn't going to take anything less than a certain amount. It didn't make any difference what we said or what the circumstances were.
"But now he's become a guy that you can work with. You can reason through issues with him and actually come to a middle ground where you're not going to get everything you want and he's not going to get everything he wants."
He's Only Just Begun
Unlike most sports agents, Rosenhaus loves being in the spotlight. He's open and accessible, which has added to his popularity with the media.
His work on movies such as "Jerry Maguire" and "Any Given Sunday," the draft-day antics on ESPN and the countless profiles in national publications have elevated his celebrity beyond that of any sports agent before him.
"Early in my career, I made the observation that there are a lot of agents," he said. "It wasn't enough for me to be just another agent. I had to stand out, and the only way to do that was by getting as much exposure as I possibly could.
"I'm not an egomaniac, but I do recognize that exposure is a plus when you're recruiting players. College guys know the name. Professional guys find comfort with familiarity and recognition."
Rosenhaus has become as synonymous with Miami as the Dolphins and South Beach. He even hosts a local television sports segment on Sunday nights.
Rosenhaus' popularity goes beyond just football. A number of national shows seek his opinion on a variety of sports-related topics.
"What is interesting is we probably got about a dozen calls to do shows about the Kobe Bryant case and I don't represent NBA players and never have," Rosenhaus said. "But they wanted to talk to me because of the fact that we've developed a high profile, and I think we're respected in that capacity. That's extremely rewarding to me."
The most rewarding part of Rosenhaus' job is seeing players and their families achieve financial security. He and Jason Rosenhaus take pride in the relationship they have with their clients.
"Jason and I are like brothers with all our clients," Drew Rosenhaus said. "We love our clients and that's one of the big reasons for our success."
Despite all their successes, Drew Rosenhaus has a warning to the competition. They are just getting started.
http://www.prosportsgroup.com/SportsAgentNews/Oct2003/News/rosenhaus.htm