The Becoming

I want to write more, I really do and I think I am going to shortly. Ive gotten a lot of nice emails from people saying this blog inspired them and they liked hearing about my exploits so maybe this wasnt such a bad thing.

Im headed to Arizona right now for the AFL all star game in which I have three guys in so that should be fun. Then in a week I go to the NY for the agents meetings which will be less fun but more serious.

I had a really interesting issue arise a few weeks ago when I headed to the AFL. A client of mine who I have grown to be incredibly close with called me and said the words every agent dreads, we need to talk. Nothing good can ever come from a conversation like that. So I asked him am I getting fired and he said yes. He said he loved me like I was a brother and he was so grateful and happy he met me but things could have been better on the work side of things. Thats a danger every agent faces. Players sometimes see what other guys get endorsement wise and get jealous without knowing any of the real specifics. Needless to say I didnt take any of this well and exploded as usual when these things go down. Also, this was the first day of my trip. Anyway, on the last night before I went home and I left him a message for him. For the first time in my career I didnt want things to end badly with a player I cared for so very much. I said lets just have a proper goodbye. So the guy came over to where I was at and got out of his car and asked me are you okay, I said no and I hugged the guy and started to actually cry a little bit. He cried too then we had about an hour long conversation that had very little to do with work. I could barely speak, I always knew I loved this guy but it felt like I was losing a relative, in this instance it was beyond devastating. At the end of the conversation we walked out to his car, he said give me your designation and then he resigned with me. He apologized the next day for putting me through that and we're good now. A week later I came up with a ton of money for him endorsement wise so everything is great again thank god. The guy was rewarded for sticking with me and I got to keep a very close friend. I have a very special bond with this player and that to me makes all the difference.

Congratulation to Darren Ford, my very first client to ever receive a world series ring. Darren wasnt on the active post season roster but he did play a big role in helping the giants get there down the stretch.

Hope to be back writing soon

Mahalo

J-