- Rotten Rosenhaus

- Iron Microphone

- Life of Bryan

- Say what?

 

He has become as omnipresent as pollution, and just slightly more offensive.  Amid ongoing contract squabbles between Terrell Owens and the Philadelphia Eagles, Drew Rosenhaus, Owens’ agent, has become a media magnet, appearing on any show that can tolerate his braggadocio and BS.

 

One prominent NFL agent, who asked to remain nameless, says, “I find a lot of his stuff offensive. Rosenhaus is embarrassing to the business.” According to the agent, the ever self-promoting Rosenhaus actually called ESPN on July 19 to make sure they knew that he successfully administered CPR to 4-year-old Maurice Hill, who had essentially drowned at the Grand Floridian Hotel in Orlando. Rosenhaus saved the boy’s life while in Orlando for an appearance at the ESPN Club.

 

Indeed, Rosenhaus is the caricature of the smarmy, money-grubbing sports agent popularized by Jay Mohr’s character in the film “Jerry Maguire” and Robert Wuhl’s “Arliss” in the HBO series of the same name.

Steve Freyer is a Boston based sports agent who has represented high-profile media and sports clients for 25 years, including Boston Bruins legend Ray Bourque. Regarding Rosenhaus, Freyer states, “Drew represents the lack of ethics in our business, constantly hitting on other people's clients.”

Last week, on ESPN2’s “Quite Frankly,” host Stephen A. Smith asked Rosenhaus if he steals clients from other agents. Rosenhaus answered with an emphatic no. Fellow guest and agent Leigh Steinberg laughed at the response. That same night, as a guest on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” Rosenhaus basically told Letterman that his style is to get better deals for clients who currently have agents. In short, Rosenhaus is a liar.

Says Freyer: “There are teams that will avoid players who have agents like Rosenhaus. He is has fallen prey to the disease that befalls many agents. He wants to be the star. An agent’s job is to take the abuse, to be a buffer between the player and the team. If I become the focus of the hostility, I’m not doing my job.”

As an example, Freyer points to the late Bob Woolf, a renowned Boston-based sports agent, best known for representing Celtics legend Larry Bird. “Woolf was the king of self-promotion, but he was not truly Larry Bird’s agent, said Freyer. “The late Larry Fleischer negotiated Bird’s last contract with the Celtics.”

    

The aforementioned Steinberg, who has represented many high-profile NFL players, is not beyond reproach. “Leigh walks an ethical tightrope because lawyers are not supposed to solicit clients,” says Freyer, who is not an attorney. 

    

“As a lawyer, he is bound by the ethics of the Bar Association. Attorneys are taught to negotiate on a combative basis. This is not the best way to close a gap between a player and a team.”

    

In the Owens case, player, agent and team are all culpable. “I’m surprised that the Eagles would ever have wanted to deal with Owens in the first place,” says Freyer. “Teams always think that they can straighten out a bad guy. Owens was eager to get out of San Francisco, got a seven-year deal in Philadelphia and was happy as a clam. Now, that deal is not good. (Eagles coach) Andy Reid really has to worry about team cohesion at this point.”
    

Holding out remains a strategy in contract negotiations. “If a player is truly underpaid, it can be good at times,” said Freyer. “I never use that, but I might have a player show up late to camp just to make a statement. Richard Seymour is a good example. He was underpaid and stated his case the right way.”

    

Freyer says that there were maybe 25 or 30 sports agents when he started in 1980. There are now over 400 registered agents in the NFL. He is not happy with the direction that men like Rosenhaus have taken his field. 

 

“I would not recommend to my sons that they go into this business. There are too many weasels.”

 

Iron Microphone
Mike Ditka is as vociferous and direct in media as he was as an NFL player and coach. Currently, Ditka is a commentator for WCSR Radio and a preseason game analyst for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. He also appears on ESPN. Here are a few recent gems from the mind of “Iron Mike.”

On his former Saints draft pick and current Dolphins running back Ricky Williams: “He has destroyed the morale of the Dolphins. If you’re counting on somebody to be with you and that person jumps out of the foxhole, I have no respect for him. It comes down to character, integrity, honesty, reliability and accountability. If you’re not that, you’re nothing. I hope he hears this. I drafted this guy. I gave up a whole draft for this one guy.” 

 

On Atlanta’s Michael Vick:  “Don’t over-coach him! What he has, you can’t coach. What you do is you try to refine it. You say, ‘OK, we’re going to give you a simple read here and there, and the next thing is run like heck!’”

On Minnesota QB Daunte Culpepper: “He reads the blitz, sees the blitz and drops the ball off. He makes good decisions with the football. He is strong, can stay in the pocket, take the hit and throw the football down the field as well as anybody.”
    
Ditka recently called Tom Brady “the most underrated quarterback in the league,” and he is not alone in his praise. ESPN’s Eric Allen, a former Pro Bowl defensive back, calls Brady “the best quarterback in the league,” while future Hall of Fame QB and current Fox analyst Troy Aikman wrote in “The Sporting News” that if he needed to win one game, Brady would be his quarterback.

 

During his 12-year career as a linebacker with the Dolphins, Bears, Jets, Patriots and Saints, Bryan Cox was outspoken and raucous. As a commentator for ESPN, Fox Sports Net (FSN) and other outlets, Cox is still speaking his mind. “I bring a complete knowledge of football to the show.”

“Being on  FSN’s ‘Best Damn Sports Show Period’ (BDSSP) taught me not to be so serious about football,” says Cox, a member of New England’s Super Bowl XXXVI championship team. “I could say obnoxious things and no one takes it personally.”

Cox’s BDSSP experience was in stark contrast to his first network job as a studio analyst for ESPN. “On Fox, we could talk about race, sex, whatever, and it was all in fun,” said Cox. “ESPN was much more stiff. They put me in a suit and tie. I’d much rather sit comfortably and talk openly to football fans.”
    

Talking openly has never been a problem for Cox. His career was characterized by ferocious play and candid quotes. Early in his career, Cox was vilified for making an obscene gesture to an opposing crowd. By the end of his career, he was looked upon as a sage and trusted leader. 

“People on the outside saw me as a wild man,” says the three-time Pro Bowler. “(Former Dolphins coach) Don Shula expected all of us to act like men, but I felt that it was necessary for me to explode at times. Later in my career, playing for Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, all I had to do was focus on playing football.”

Cox marvels at the genius of Belichick. “Bill has the innate ability to get his team to focus. He makes all the decisions, so there is no one else to screw things up. The thing about Belichick is that he is honest. There are a lot of lying SOBs in this game."

Cox took some heat last season when he stated that Tom Brady's success is less a product of talent and more a product of the Patriots' system. He clarifies, stating, “You have to give Tom a lot of credit. He plays the mental game so well. The key is that he doesn't try to be something he's not.”

Cox recalls a 2001 exchange between him and Brady. “Tom was throwing these crazy deep balls on the sidelines during practice. I got in his face and said, ‘Stop doing things that aren’t going to help us. Throw the (expletive deleted) ball where it needs to be thrown!’ He listened."

Say what?

Drew Bledsoe to ESPN.com’s John Clayton: "I've had guys (Tom Brady and J.P. Losman) picked ahead of me. I don't think it's the right decision and I still don't.”

 

Where has Bledsoe been for three years, Buffalo or Bangladesh? The jury is still out on Losman, but after three Super Bowl wins, it’s a given that making Tom Brady the Pats’ permanent starter was the right call.

 

Steve Spurrier in the August 22 edition of Sports Illustrated: “Usually, the owner hires the G.M., and he and the coach work together on personnel. We didn’t have a G.M. where I was (Washington). The owner was making those decisions.” Who did Spurrier think he was working for, Dan Snyder or Mr. Rogers? Spurrier knew what he was getting into. He took Snyder’s $25 million offer. He should take full blame.

 

Joe Theismann at a January 2005 speaking engagement: “I would trade Randy Moss and I think they will. He is simply a jerk. He doesn’t go over the middle. He is not physical and he refuses to block. Joe Gibbs told me it takes three things to be successful: character, intelligence and ability. Randy Moss only has the third.” 

 

Theismann is right on the money. Moss may catch a few passes in Oakland, but the Raiders will continue to live in the past – i.e., no championships since the Reagan administration.

John Molori's columns are published at ColdHardFootballFacts.com, The Providence Journal, The Boston Metro, Patriots Football Weekly, Boston Sports Review, New England Hockey Journal New England Ringside, TheRemyReport.com, PatsFans.com, BostonSportsReview.com, BostonSportsMedia.com and MethuenOnline.com. Email John at JOMOL3@aol.com.