Drew Rosenhaus is an ass

Perhaps Jerry Maguire slightly tainted my perception of sports agents, but I don't think I'm too far off by saying that Drew Rosenhaus is a complete idiot. For those of you who don't know the name, Rosenhaus represents star NFLers Terrell Owens, Javon Walker, Anquan Boldin, Plaxico Burress, Santana Moss and about 80-90 other gridiron heroes. Coincidence that all the aforementioned players are WRs? Possibly. But, I don't think it's coincidence that all of them have been or are currently involved in contract squabbles with their respective team. Last evening on ESPN, I managed to catch Dan Patrick interviewing the intolerable Mr. Rosenhaus (lucky me, huh?), and not only did he fail to offer any respect to Patrick, who I deem one of the cornerstones of the ESPN network, but in the process he also came off looking like a total jackass. His frequent references of “buddy” to Patrick, not to mention that arrogant smirk, suggests to me that, while he may know a thing or two about draining dimes from owners' checkbooks, he doesn't understand a damn thing about professionalism.

Case in point, Rosenhaus went as far to imply that the NFL would be in shambles without the presence of sports agents. That would be like me explaining to my employer that the company would be in shambles without trainers (for those of you who don't know me, that's what I do for a living). Sounds good. Sounds credible. But, it just ain't true. Then, when asked about his prediction on T.O.'s contract, he guaranteed that the two sides would come to agreeable terms before training camp opens in August. Hmm, really, Drew? Just like your Yatil Green guarantee in '99? Here, let me refresh your memory, “I'm fully confident that Yatil will definitely make it back from his two knee injuries.” Sound vaguely familiar? Oh, and where is Yatil now? Exactly.

Let me just say, I'm all for athletes getting paid what is deemed fair value for their services. Hell, I'm for anyone getting that same deal. After all, being a pro athlete is a job, just like being a trainer is a job. Where my “coping” level takes a hit is when an athlete, better yet the athlete's agent, negotiates a multi-year contract and a year later wants to re-negotiate or draw up a new contract just because his client had a banner year. What, the agent didn't expect his client to improve over the course of a year? And, where does it end. Should an athlete be afforded the opportunity to ask for money every year? If so, then why do the leagues have contracts? Let's just toss them out the window and replace them with Pay Increase Request Forms. Give owners an Approved stamp in one hand and a Denied stamp in the other. Think of the wonders that process would work for eliminating long contract discussions and getting guys into camp on time. In the words of the Coyote, “genius, sheer genius.” Anyone have Paul Tagliabue's number?