Representatives from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Football League, NFL Players Association, American Football Coaches Association and sports agent community met Monday to discuss their shared responsibility in addressing improper agent activity within the sport of football - described by the NCAA as "an age-old problem that not just one group or organization can solve on its own." The unprecedented meeting is expected to be the first of several discussions with the goal of identifying points of collaboration and potential solutions.
AB spoke recently with John Phillips, owner of the Breakthrough Sports Agency, about the fierce competition among aspiring football agents, and how that competition often contributes to unscrupulous agent behavior. "There's motivation to cheat," Phillips says, pointing to the one organization that he feels holds the greatest potential to effect change. "The NFLPA needs to regulate more and have more swift punishment. There needs to be a federal registration or licensing system such that, if you're rogue and you're a cheater, you know what's coming and when it's coming. As it stands, there's really no fear of retribution."
Read more of the Phillips interview in the September issue of AB.
