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Confessions of an [NFL] agent (The best piece of sports investigative reporting this year)
Sports Illustrated ^ | 10/18/10 | George Dohrmann

Posted on 10/12/2010 2:19:40 PM PDT by truthandlife

I will never forget the first time I paid a player.

There are moments you will always remember, like your first kiss or your first home run or the day you met your wife. For me, the first time I broke an NCAA rule to try to land a client is just as indelible.

It was before the 1990 football season, and I flew from Los Angeles to Denver and drove to the University of Colorado to try to meet with Kanavis McGhee. He was a big, pass-rushing linebacker who was expected to be a high pick in the 1991 NFL draft. I was 20 years old -- the youngest agent ever certified by the NFL Players Association -- and had less than a year's experience, but for whatever reason I convinced myself that I had a shot with him.

I figured out where Kanavis lived, drove to his apartment and knocked on the door. No one answered, so I waited. About four hours later, Kanavis finally came home and I bum-rushed him at the door.

"Hey, Kanavis, my name is Josh Luchs. I'm a sports agent, and I flew here from Los Angeles specifically for you," I said. "You're a great player and I came a long way, and I'd really appreciate it if you would sit down and talk to me for a few minutes."

(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: agents; chat; money; nfl; northcarolina; sports; tarheels; unc
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Mel Kiper and Gary Wichard will definitely be in trouble over this one. Very entertaining read.
1 posted on 10/12/2010 2:19:43 PM PDT by truthandlife
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To: truthandlife

I relished every sentence.

This is the kind of down-in-the-dirt reporting that the print media will have to do if they want to compete and stand apart.


2 posted on 10/12/2010 2:21:13 PM PDT by relictele (Me lumen vos umbra regit)
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To: truthandlife

very interesting


3 posted on 10/12/2010 2:24:42 PM PDT by balch3
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To: truthandlife

I found this link on another site today and could not stop reading it!

I hope the author is heading into Witness Protection shortly, though.


4 posted on 10/12/2010 2:26:01 PM PDT by Constitution Day
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To: truthandlife
Jerry Maguire comes to life.
5 posted on 10/12/2010 2:32:25 PM PDT by Servant of the Cross (I'm with Jim DeMint ... on the fringe baby!)
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To: truthandlife

I have a client who is a pro sports “agent”. Let me just say, it is a very dirty business!


6 posted on 10/12/2010 2:33:48 PM PDT by WellyP
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mark for later


7 posted on 10/12/2010 2:37:20 PM PDT by eureka! (Tea Party = Real Americans' ACORN --the ground game will save us.)
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To: truthandlife

This “agent” is a piece of trash. He broke the law then write this kiss and tell. Spoiled rich kid and jock sniffer too.


8 posted on 10/12/2010 2:37:59 PM PDT by Frantzie (Imam Ob*m* & Democrats support the VICTORY MOSQUE & TV supports Imam)
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To: truthandlife

Why is he talking about Datsun dealers and 280z’s when the company changed its name to Nissan when he was about eight years old.


9 posted on 10/12/2010 2:39:43 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: truthandlife

Very interesting article.

You know all this will be legit if no one sues Fuchs. He is outting some rich people who have the money to sue...you know Fuchs is telling the truth if they do not sue

So much for Mel Kiper’s credibility


10 posted on 10/12/2010 2:44:32 PM PDT by UCFRoadWarrior (They don't let you build churches in Mecca)
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To: Frantzie

He might have been as dirty as the rest of the agents out there but there is a time where you just come to the realization that if you just dump the truth out there it will clear everything up. I think Floyd Landis was one of those guys as well as Jose Canseco.


11 posted on 10/12/2010 2:46:10 PM PDT by truthandlife ("Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Ps 20:7))
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To: truthandlife
Great read but I am confounded about something.

I assumed that the greatest examples of uselessness were Hollywood Miscreants and Rock Stars. It seems as though Professional Athletes are right up there in the PPL (that's Pantheon of Pathetic Losers).

The only real heroes wear Military Uniforms, work in the field of Law Enforcement, Public Safety and the FBI/CIA undercover agents. To think otherwise is to forever remain a child.

12 posted on 10/12/2010 2:50:04 PM PDT by wmileo
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To: truthandlife
The dinosaur MSM has forgotten how to do investigative reporting like this.

This story is great from beginning to end.

13 posted on 10/12/2010 2:51:55 PM PDT by TYVets
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To: truthandlife

If you were a good player at UCLA, I made a run at you. I tried to get can’t-miss NFL left tackle prospect Jonathan Ogden as a client, but he wouldn’t take my money. He did, however, go with me to a Janet Jackson concert. My girlfriend got two tickets, and I told her, “Sorry, I need those tickets for J.O. He’s a big Janet Jackson fan.” Instead of going to the concert with my girlfriend, I went with a 6’9” guy who weighed more than 300 pounds and who screamed “Janet!” the whole night like a teenage girl.

The lunches, the money each month, the bail, the concert tickets, those were all NCAA violations, of course, but in my mind I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Doc would say to me, “We ain’t members of the NCAA. We didn’t agree to follow these rules.” I also justified it by remembering that the schools and the NCAA were making money while the players, many of whom came from poor families, weren’t getting anything but an education, which many of them didn’t take seriously. Plus, Doc and I knew that if they didn’t take our money, they would take it from one of the dozens of other agents opening their wallets. Agents have been giving kids money for decades.


14 posted on 10/12/2010 3:00:34 PM PDT by flowerplough (Thomas Sowell: Those who look only at Obama's deeds tend to become Obama's critics.)
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To: wmileo
That night I sat in my hotel room making a list of pros and cons in my head. Sure, it was breaking NCAA rules, but I would be helping Kanavis out. How would I feel if my mom was sick and I didn't have money to help her? I went through this for hours and finally decided to do it. The next morning I went to the bank, pulled out some of my bar mitzvah money, $2,500 in cash, showed up at Kanavis's door and told him, "Kanavis, I gave this a lot of thought, and I want to help you out. I know how I would feel if it was my mom."

I doubt that lending rent money to needy people had ever been done by him before or since that event, of course we know that he kept giving money to purchase access to people that could benefit him.

15 posted on 10/12/2010 3:01:04 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: truthandlife

Mel and Gary won’t be in any trouble, they didn’t break any rules.


16 posted on 10/12/2010 3:21:15 PM PDT by discostu (Keyser Soze lives)
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To: relictele

great article, but it isn’t really reporting - the guy penned a confession and sport illustrated fact checked.


17 posted on 10/12/2010 3:33:34 PM PDT by Wayne07
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To: Constitution Day

Very good read. Kind of a redemption tale.


18 posted on 10/12/2010 3:34:23 PM PDT by glorgau
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To: Frantzie

The agent broke no law. THere is no law that says an agent can’t pay a player to sign up, or provide any kinds of other incentives.

THe NCAA is allowed to make RULES that govern whether a student can still play a college sport if they get payment or sign, but that’s the NCAA rules, not a law.


19 posted on 10/12/2010 3:58:25 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: truthandlife
Shockey??? i'm shocked...
20 posted on 10/12/2010 4:42:40 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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