Added 8-19-02

There are not many social events that I attend where there are people who are new acquaintances that don't bring up the movie "Jerry Maguire."  Most often it is in the context of:

"What do you do?"

"I'm a sports attorney."

"Oh, like Jerry Maguire?"

"Well sort of, he was an agent, but . . . "

The "buts" in the above conversation are numerous.  Being a sports agent is very much a relationship business, and if an agent is not able to connect with his client on a personal basis, the relationship can sometimes suffer.  In most cases we are very much friends with our clients, but it rarely gets to the level of the deep emotional ties between the Tom Cruise character and the Cuba Gooding character. 

One very important difference is that it would be impossible to have an ongoing business and have only one client.  The amounts of money and time that Maguire invested in Rod Tidwell would make it impossible to operate a business.  The striking similarities to real life included the attendance at the pre- Super Bowl events which has become commonplace for the very high draft picks although it is foolish for high draft picks to be there as it is a critical time for working out, and the constant concern that some other agent will attempt to steal your client. 

Another interesting aspect was the way that the offer from the Cardinals was received by fax at Tidwell's home.  The communication of the contract offer was very similar to the way contract offers are sent from teams to agents.  Of course, it would be unusual for the agent to be at the home of the player and waiting for the fax.  The reaction to the offer was not unlike an agent and player's reaction, particularly to a first offer to a drafted player.

There is a recruiting scene in Jerry Maguire which is very much like real life.  Maguire is in his back yard, on the phone with a player, soliciting a meeting.  He tells the player he can be at the player's residence by midday the following day, putting aside any family concerns. 

In a nutshell, the movie is a stretch to what a real life agent does but all things considered, Jerry Maguire is probably closer to the real thing about being an agent than Major League was to being a professional baseball player, but probably not as close as Bull Durham is to real life baseball.

Someone asked us, "What did you guys work on last month?"

Last month happened to be a month where it was important to focus on one or two primary issues, the first being the negotiation of rookie contracts for players preparing to start their first NFL training camp in the second the placement of any veteran player who did not have the job.  Each of our eight clients drafted received a contract that exceeded the value of the prior year.  Most times that would not be a remarkable statement, but in this NFL year, where the NFL rookie pool remained flat, there were many players who had to take a cut from the prior year's slot.  We work hard negotiating favorable contracts for our clients while dealing with formidable negotiators from the management side.  All of our players were in camp prior to the start of any meaningful practices and by all reports, all of them are doing well.

In addition to the negotiation of rookie contracts, we are in the process of beginning a joint venture with Cowboy Sports Agents, Inc., a venture that will involve Cindrich & Company moving into the representing of some of America's premiere rodeo cowboys.

We also worked on finalizing contracts for some of our basketball clients in Europe.