00:00Lee, how much has the process changed since you first got into the game to where you are right now
00:06in representing clients?
00:08How different has it been from the Troy Aikmans and the Warren Moons that you represented?
00:14When I represented Steve Bartkowski, who was my first client back in 1975, he was the first overall pick in
00:24the NFL draft.
00:25And how he found out the draft was in January, it had 17 rounds, and how he found out was
00:35a call from the team.
00:37There was no television, there was no publicity.
00:43A couple of days later, they printed the draft picks.
00:47The two franchises that came into the league were Tampa Bay and Seattle, and they had a purchase price of
00:53$16.5 million.
00:54Back in 1976, currently, you've got the Dallas Cowboys at $10 billion.
01:03The amount of money that each team got from the national TV contract back when I started was $2 million.
01:13Now it's about $300 million per season.
01:17And then at the college campus, you have the evolution of NIL, which means that 15-year-olds are looking
01:28for a marketing director to represent them.
01:33So now the age of talking to a potential client has gone into adolescence.
01:40And I don't think that's a great way to have a contact with a young man.
01:50For you, Lee, how much has that changed the game with NIL now and the amount of money?
01:55Because the amount of money now is almost pro-money now when you see some of these guys making the
02:00money.
02:01Now, like Arch Manning's going to make $6.8 million in Austin playing for the Longhorns.
02:07How has that changed the game?
02:09So it changes high school to college recruiting because Underwood, who played quarterback at Michigan last year, initially committed to
02:24LSU.
02:25And they offered him $4 million.
02:27And then a big Michigan alum came along and offered him $14 million.
02:34And he decommitted to LSU and went to Michigan.
02:39And then you have the transfer portal, which is the second bite at the apple.
02:44So money is now the great arbitrator.
02:48A group like Texas Tech in football decided to go big time on NIL.
02:55And all of a sudden, they're nationally ranked.
02:58It's Ohio State that usually spends the most.
03:01But anyway, how it changes our business is that a young man who would have talked to me going into
03:09his junior or senior year has now made a representation decision five years before.
03:17So it changes it dramatically.
03:20I mean, and the other two changes are gambling and conference realignment.
03:24Both of which dramatically alter the competitive landscape.
03:30And gambling is going to end up being a disaster at some point because you're going to have someone shave
03:38points or give inside information.
03:41And people will stop thinking that the sports are played on an even playing field.
03:48I'll tell you this, Lee.
03:50In 30 seconds here, you tell me.
03:52Jimmy Johnson said the guy that you represent, Patrick Mahomes, is untradeable.
03:56He said he'd be a five first-rounders if you ever trade him.
04:00In your opinion, how much of a talent has Patrick Mahomes?
04:06Has there ever been anybody else that you've ever had as a client and represented anything like Patrick Mahomes?
04:14Well, Troy Aikman won three Super Bowls.
04:19Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Warren Moon broke the color bar.
04:24The difference is that Mahomes started so quickly.
04:29In other words, after a first year sitting on the bench, he comes right out in his first year MVP
04:35of the league.
04:36And they go to five Super Bowls and win three of them.
04:40So it's the earliness in his career that he exploded on the league that's just unique.
04:48So it's the earliness of the league.
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