The folks over at Sports Illustrated have put together a very intriguing article about the life of an NFL agent that I believe is a must-read. Rumors have always swirled about agents providing gifts/money to players in order to gain favor and get them signed up for representation. NCAA rules and state laws have attempted to crack down on this, but recent NCAA investigations of numerous SEC schools has shown this problem has not gone away.
Well, we finally get an inside look at how bad things might be thanks to the confessions of former NFL agent Josh Luchs. Luchs confesses to a multitude of occasions in which he gave cash to players in some form or fashion. He talks about his work with one agent who was buddies with Mel Kiper and used Mel to influence players in his direction (Kiper denies much of this). Simply put, every negative stereotype of agents is featured in this article. And hey, we even have small 49ers tie-ins with Dana Stubblefield and JJ Stokes (both refused cash). However, this is much more important than any one team. As Tre9er tweeted to me this certainly blows this issue wide open.
In reading this article I would certainly take it with some semblance of a grain of salt. Luchs declares he's confessing because he thinks people should be aware of what goes on. Additionally, in a convoluted manner he seems to want to clear his name on one incident which requires giving up the dirt on the rest. His reasoning is a little bizarre, but I think I kind of understand what he's trying to say.
Whatever the case, I can only imagine the hubbub this will cause. The article is in the October 18 issue of Sports Illustrated and I have to believe this is not the last we'll hear of this. It will be interesting to see how other agents spin this and also if this leads to any sort of reform in oversight of agents and players.