Drew Rosenhaus served as a consultant during the filming of Jerry Maguire.
His growing reputation might make the film's catchphrase as synonymous with his name as it is with Tom Cruise's.
He is the new face of NFL agents, and perhaps the most visible and talked about name in the last few months of the NFL offseason. His clients include Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, and Clinton Portis.
What do these players have in common? They have, or are in the process of, (re)negotiating lucrative contracts from their clubs. Owens, currently sitting on a remaining six years of the contract he signed last year, is threatening a holdout after asking the Eagles to pony up with more money.
Yes, we've endured the big contracts, the bigger contracts, and the break-the-bank, cash cow, buy-a-private-island contracts. It was bound to happen. We didn't like it, but we dealt with it.
Now the public is looking at (what they perceive to be) overpaid athletes selfishly turning their noses up at million-dollar contracts.
Why wait until your contract year to bust out your best performances? Do it now, fire your agent, call up Drew Rosenhaus, call your GM or owner, and tell him that the contract you signed not more than 12 months ago just isn't good enough anymore.
This is the process that is building Senor Rosenhaus an in(famous) reputation among fellow agents and owners.
Who is not complaining, though? The players. They are the ones that have a solid No. 2 man in Rosenhaus — someone on their side not just for the contract negotiations, but now for the renegotiations also.
Is it that simple? Are the players selfish for wanting raises when their play merits it? Is Rosenhaus the fifth horse of the apocalypse?
Not really.
Like everything in life, it's not black and white. There is a substantial amount of gray area to wade through.
That's not to say that each individual case can't be an open and shut affair. If only ESPN could hire Jim Cramer away from Mad Money, we could have instant (and red, angry, and sweaty, for that matter) verdicts on which players deserve to have their old contracts torn up in favor of bigger, better money trees.
Take the case of Terrell Owens. No one is doubting for a second that the man isn't a MVP candidate, and no one is taking away what he did in the Super Bowl, and not even the most casual fan could reasonably say that he isn't one of the best players on the field on any given Sunday.
However, he signed a contract one year ago. And he didn't sign just any contract, he penned a very lucrative deal.
Why isn't that good enough now? In T.O.'s mind, there are at least two reasons, 1) His comeback performance last season, ending with a Super Bowl display that would make his leg worthy of top dollar on eBay and 2) Randy Moss's Oakland contract.
You bet it's an ego thing.
What would Mad Jim Cramer say if he were in the front office of the Eagles? A resounding, immediate, red-faced no.
The Eagles don't need Owens to be good next year. That's not to say he wouldn't improve their chances of making it back to the Super Bowl, but he's not essential. Not only that, but the Eagles, much like the Packers and Patriots, are not the kind of team to let an ego-driven superstar hijack their payroll and dictate organization decisions with petty threats of a holdout.
When a player is drafted into the NFL, they are paid based on playing potential. From there on out, every time that player goes to sign a new contract the team gets to judge him on his past performance, as well as, the prospects for future years.
The NFL also allows players contracts to be cut.
Does that seem fair — that players are vilified for asking for a raise when on the flipside a team can decide to end a contract at a moment's notice?
In some cases, it seems reasonably fair that a player ask for more money. Guy A signs a contract for the league minimum and in the next two years moves his way up the depth charts and ends up a starter and a Pro Bowler. Sure, he has every right to go back to the owner or GM and ask for a little extra something.
Terrell Owens is not Guy A. In fact, he is far from it.
However, there are some instances when a player, let's just call him Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond, may have been underpaid and now has every right to renegotiate.
Then, there are other players, the Steve Harvey Shows of the world, that are just selfishly grasping at straws. The question is whether or not Drew Rosenhaus is telling them stories of grandeur, ignoring the reality of the player's true worth.
There are going to be holdouts as the season begins, but Terrell Owens will not be one of them. Even if he doesn't get a new contract, do you know what T.O. did succeed in doing this offseason?
That's right, getting every sportswriter and commentator in America to mention his name three dozen more times.
July 18, 2005
Joan Stevens:
Terrell Owens doesn’t deserve a raise. Not being able to support a family on his present salary is most laughable. Terrell is a greedly, self-centered, egotistical a wipe. His mouth is constantly running faster than his feet. Terrell, get rid of your attitude and act like a normal , if that is possible, human being. Perhaps if you were more cooperative and not so self serving people might give you what you don’t deserve.