New Scouting Adventure Starting For Me

[stoops the eternal pimp]

So a former co worker and I are looking to help college football athletes get a feeling on what nfl scouts feel about them before they hire an agent and declare early. Little different than the draft grade they can get at the end by giving them feedback through the season. It is also different than the information that is available on the web in that it is tailored toward the individual athlete each week. And making it all free the first few weeks. If they like it, the family pays a subscription fee like a newsletter.

Anyway, took a survey of 25 college football players asking them if they had a future in the nfl.. Any guess on how many said they did?

[OklaPony]

25 is my guess.

[IslandSooner]

Yes, I would think all 25.

[KantoSooner]

Like shooting fish in a barrel. Or like asking Ivy League students whether they felt like they could handle being college profs.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

out of the 25 draft eligible players, 22 said they had a NFL future..out of those 22, 2 have 6th-7th round grades and the rest are not on anyone's radar at all.

Part of why we are doing this week to week is to get them good information before agents come in and start lying plus maybe deterring some who quit going to class or mailing it in on their classroom efforts..

Interesting enough, the people that are tough to do deal with in all of this is the parents so far.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Also seeing how many of the recruiters are using promises of the NFL to lure players in.

[EatLeadCommie]

maybe they thought you meant NFL Europe

[kbsooner21]

Good luck with the new venture! Gotta be hard to deal with parents and their kids who think they're all due for stardom in the NFL

[8timechamps]

out of the 25 draft eligible players, 22 said they had a NFL future..out of those 22, 2 have 6th-7th round grades and the rest are not on anyone's radar at all.

Part of why we are doing this week to week is to get them good information before agents come in and start lying plus maybe deterring some who quit going to class or mailing it in on their classroom efforts..

Interesting enough, the people that are tough to do deal with in all of this is the parents so far.

Sounds like a very interesting, worth while venture.

What's the deal with the parents? Are they too skeptical or have they already been approached by agents that have promised them the moon?

[BoulderSooner79]

out of the 25 draft eligible players, 22 said they had a NFL future..out of those 22, 2 have 6th-7th round grades and the rest are not on anyone's radar at all.

Part of why we are doing this week to week is to get them good information before agents come in and start lying plus maybe deterring some who quit going to class or mailing it in on their classroom efforts..

Interesting enough, the people that are tough to do deal with in all of this is the parents so far.

LOL, no surprise there. No doubt the same parents that gave all the coaches a hard time from pee-wee league and up.

[badger]

STEP, I'd love your insight into how to help players with pro dreams but not-pro realities.


the people that are tough to do deal with in all of this is the parents so far

Most parents would probably agree that they'll always think higher of their own kid than anyone else :)

nytimes did a feature on the chase for college scholarships a few years ago and the difficulty with parents (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/sports/11coaches.html?ref=sports) was that they seemed to want a return on their sports investment... all of the road trips to tournaments, paying for private lessons and elite level club participation, etc. The funny thing was that it was a mid-minor sports, not the revenue ones. Parents chasing scholarship money were the parents of field hockey, track and soccer players.


maybe they thought you meant NFL Europe
Didn't they say NFL was doing FIVE games in Europe next year?! Maybe the NFL Europe could make a comeback if there's enough interest?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Sounds like a very interesting, worth while venture.

What's the deal with the parents? Are they too skeptical or have they already been approached by agents that have promised them the moon?

Some skeptical because I am offering the service for me..And if they feel it's something that will benefit them after a few weeks, they pay a monthly subscription basically like a newsletter..

The parents are more difficult to talk to because they typically have had more lies told to them than the student athlete..They've been told since lil Junior scored 5 TDs in a high school game that he was going to the NFL by everyone..Friends, relatives.. And some a few local con artists referring to themselves as agents have gotten to them..

I've learned in the hood, everyone turns into an agent real quick.

[swardboy]

Sweet. Tell them what they want to hear and then steer toward your uncle Carlos to be their agent. I like it!

[stoops the eternal pimp]

If you've noticed over the years, the number of players leaving school early for the purpose of going to the NFL and not getting drafted/invited has increased. Usually from bad information, ie websites, draftniks, family, friends, "agents."

It's not about killing pro dreams but making sure these guys who aren't getting good feedback will do something with the free education they are getting.

[ouduckhunter]

Good luck! Sounds like a good service that provides valuable information to those who need it. How they use, and apply that information will be up to them.

[badger]

I've learned in the hood, everyone turns into an agent real quick.

Ever read the SEC bagman story? (http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/4/10/5594348/college-football-bag-man-interview) A quote:


"If mama's been working all her life to provide, you can make that work. That's a very manageable situation. But if you've got an uncle talking about being the kid's manager or agent, talking about his rap label he's starting or interviews with ESPN, sh*t ... you better hold on, or reevaluate how bad you want this player."

[rock on sooner]

Great idea..good luck with it...

If you could, let us on the board in on a few..i.e player A thinks he can go
his strengths...his weaknesses...his attitude about applying himself to his
academics and then how he progresses...(with some insight from his parents)
would be great for a novice like myself to understand the process....

I've had some dealings with a scout for the Jets...got to read some of his
reports, etc. interesting stuff!

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I will be happy to..I am just now getting the NFL personnel side completed to go along with our thoughts.. What they will get is in a newsletter form our strengths/weaknesses thoughts, around 7-8 NFL personnel opinions and then a general statement from one of them concerning what they want to see from them during the next game or over the next few games.

[8timechamps]

Some skeptical because I am offering the service for me..And if they feel it's something that will benefit them after a few weeks, they pay a monthly subscription basically like a newsletter..

The parents are more difficult to talk to because they typically have had more lies told to them than the student athlete..They've been told since lil Junior scored 5 TDs in a high school game that he was going to the NFL by everyone..Friends, relatives.. And some a few local con artists referring to themselves as agents have gotten to them..

I've learned in the hood, everyone turns into an agent real quick.

That's what I figured. I've had two professional athletes as clients during my career, both football players. One of the young men used an agent for almost everything, and that relationship (having him as a client) didn't last long. It was frustrating to deal with, but mostly sad to see.

The other player, who no longer plays, had his 'family' involved from the first time I met with him. The funny thing was that his 'family' were much more difficult to deal with than he was. In fact, after two years of advising him, he finally realized everyone showed a lot of concern, as long as they were getting something out of the deal. His dad was a good guy, but very jaded by years of coaches, recruiters and agents telling him everything he wanted to hear and not very much of what he needed to hear.

Good luck my friend. You'll do a good job, but I can't say I envy you. If you were just dealing with the players themselves, it'd be so much easier for you...but you already know that.