Rob Roche, president of RSR Sports in Chatham, NJ, sat down with Just NY Jets Fan Site to give NFL fans a Birdseye view of the life of a player's agent. Roche has been a licensed NFL agent for 8 years and represents players such as Neil Rackers of the Arizona Cardinals, Josh Brown of the Seattle Seahawks and Shayne Graham of the Cincinati Bengals. His most recent accomplishment securing Josh Brown a one year deal worth 2 million dollars when the Seahawks tagged as the Franchise Player. We are grateful he took time time away from speaking with general managers and player personal wrap with us. Enjoy!
1) This past weekend you attended Hugh Hefner's birthday party in Las Vegas. How did you get invited?
Josh Brown, one of my clients is friends with Joel McHale, host of E Channel's The Soup Show and he was hosting a comedy show at the Palms Resort and Casino where Hugh Hefner’s birthday was taking place. Joel invited Josh and some of his friends to take in the Comedy show and attend the party afterwards at the new Play Boy Club at the top floor of the Palms.
2) Who was in attendance that surprised you the most?
Paris Hilton seemed nice as well as some of the cast from the O.C. T.V. show. I was unaware of the O.C. guys because I never really watch that show.
3) What about being an NFL player agent would shock most people?
My clients are really good guys. They come out to New Jersey in the off-season to play golf and they play with my kids. Even though they are Pro Bowl NFL players they are good quality guys. They are not like the guys depicted on the ESPN show a couple of years back.
4) What was your "Welcome to the NFL" moment?
When Neil Rackers was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2000. He was literally on the phone with the Chicago Bears telling them what jersey number he wanted because they were going to select him next when the Bengals selected him.
5) How hard is maneuvering around such NCAA rules as taking a player for dinner and not being able to pick up the tab?
It is not hard at all, you just have to know the rules and live by them. I tell players and their families the rules up front. I actually send them the NCAA regulations with my brochure.
6) Is it harder dealing with the parents or the players?
It depends on the particular situation. Sometimes the parents are great to deal with and then you meet the player and you can tell that the parent may or may not have much of an influence on who the player is going to sign with as an agent. Each recruit and each client of mine is different, has different personalities and needs. I think that is what makes my job interesting is that I have the opportunity to meet so many different people from different parts of the country and I get to make a living out of it.
7) With the NFL draft coming in a month, are you still actively recruiting for this year?
No, this season, I made a conscious effort to sign a specific number of players and once I reached that goal, I shut it down. Now my time is spent marketing my draft eligible players to the NFL teams.
8) What is it like in your house the moment the announcement is made that your player is drafted?
It is always exciting. I am watching the draft and my players are watching the draft just like everyone else. I must admit, no matter how long I have been doing this, it is always exciting to hear your players named called during the draft.
9) In years past you've had players drafted higher than others. Is it a let down for an agent if a player is drafted low or not drafted at all?
Sometimes it can be disappointing if a player is not drafted because you know how hard the player has worked and how hard you have worked to the goal of being drafted. However, there is not much time to feel sad because I then have to get to work to work the phones and have them placed as an undrafted free-agent, negotiate their signing bonus and steer the people to the best team where he will have an opportunity to make a 53 man roster.
10) What can players expect when they sign on with RSR Sports?
Personal attention, professionalism and as long as the player performs on the field, RSR will deliver a great contract for them.
11) Would you prefer a player to be drafted by the Jets or the Giants (careful here)?
1) This past weekend you attended Hugh Hefner's birthday party in Las Vegas. How did you get invited?
Josh Brown, one of my clients is friends with Joel McHale, host of E Channel's The Soup Show and he was hosting a comedy show at the Palms Resort and Casino where Hugh Hefner’s birthday was taking place. Joel invited Josh and some of his friends to take in the Comedy show and attend the party afterwards at the new Play Boy Club at the top floor of the Palms.
2) Who was in attendance that surprised you the most?
Paris Hilton seemed nice as well as some of the cast from the O.C. T.V. show. I was unaware of the O.C. guys because I never really watch that show.
3) What about being an NFL player agent would shock most people?
My clients are really good guys. They come out to New Jersey in the off-season to play golf and they play with my kids. Even though they are Pro Bowl NFL players they are good quality guys. They are not like the guys depicted on the ESPN show a couple of years back.
4) What was your "Welcome to the NFL" moment?
When Neil Rackers was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2000. He was literally on the phone with the Chicago Bears telling them what jersey number he wanted because they were going to select him next when the Bengals selected him.
5) How hard is maneuvering around such NCAA rules as taking a player for dinner and not being able to pick up the tab?
It is not hard at all, you just have to know the rules and live by them. I tell players and their families the rules up front. I actually send them the NCAA regulations with my brochure.
6) Is it harder dealing with the parents or the players?
It depends on the particular situation. Sometimes the parents are great to deal with and then you meet the player and you can tell that the parent may or may not have much of an influence on who the player is going to sign with as an agent. Each recruit and each client of mine is different, has different personalities and needs. I think that is what makes my job interesting is that I have the opportunity to meet so many different people from different parts of the country and I get to make a living out of it.
7) With the NFL draft coming in a month, are you still actively recruiting for this year?
No, this season, I made a conscious effort to sign a specific number of players and once I reached that goal, I shut it down. Now my time is spent marketing my draft eligible players to the NFL teams.
8) What is it like in your house the moment the announcement is made that your player is drafted?
It is always exciting. I am watching the draft and my players are watching the draft just like everyone else. I must admit, no matter how long I have been doing this, it is always exciting to hear your players named called during the draft.
9) In years past you've had players drafted higher than others. Is it a let down for an agent if a player is drafted low or not drafted at all?
Sometimes it can be disappointing if a player is not drafted because you know how hard the player has worked and how hard you have worked to the goal of being drafted. However, there is not much time to feel sad because I then have to get to work to work the phones and have them placed as an undrafted free-agent, negotiate their signing bonus and steer the people to the best team where he will have an opportunity to make a 53 man roster.
10) What can players expect when they sign on with RSR Sports?
Personal attention, professionalism and as long as the player performs on the field, RSR will deliver a great contract for them.
11) Would you prefer a player to be drafted by the Jets or the Giants (careful here)?
Both the Jets and the Giants are stellar organizations and they are both run by top notch individuals. However, with the Jets moving close to my office in Chatham, New Jersey, I would love to have a player on the Jets.
7 comments:
Did this guy know who he was talking to!!! Just kidding UJF...
This is great. I used to make up hypothetical conversations on my blogs too! Once again, just kidding...I look forward to this being a popular post. I can't wait to see the next interview.
Where is your first post for the Mets blog??? You are past your deadline chump!
Hey Unruly, where is the link to Nuzziandmason.com and Waste Management and LMI? Let's go dude, if you are going to give your buddy a plug (you wish I bet) then give my law firm free advertising (and I promise I'll stop posting crazy shit and saying "cunt."
Who caught Peyton on Sat Night Live? There were two especially funny clips when he is playing football with little kids and just nailing them with passes in the head and body, then he yells and cusses at them just like he does his real teammates. Then there was one where he was a guest College basketball analyst on ESPN. Everyone kept saying that texas 'pulled a Peyton manning' by being eliminated in the tournament. Peyton's name was Ted Trimble or something and he kept getting mad every time they said a team pulled a Peyton Manning. It was fucking funny.
Fakehead, don't ever stop saying 'cunt'.
That inspired me to writer a humorous Overfloater blog. Stupid me forgot to mention how much I liked the interview. How did you do the interview, tape record the conversation. When I was a reporter I hated having to play back my taped interviews and transcribe everything.
I especially like how he mentioned that the Giants were a stellar organization. I'm surprised that one got by the Gestapo, but grateful nonetheless me is.
Your questions were good Unruly. I doubt Unruly taped him, he probably emailed some questions to him or just made up answers to questions he proposed. I give you credit for trying to legitimize this blog though Unruly, you may never give up, despite our best efforts to undercut you and verbally berate you. Godspeed my son.
I wanted to see the Peyton SNL, but I couldn't stay up. That spot about the throwing passes at kids sounds like comic gold though.
Thanks for the good words on the interview...I actually made up the whole interview.
Actually, emailed him. He graciously replied. Those answers are his words.
Time Magazine does this thing every week where I think they email a guy and they post his responses. I tried to do the same thing. Thanks for the words on the good questions. I tried to think of some good ones.
As for legitimatizing our blog...you can say cunt all you want. I am not kidding. In fact, I think you should change your name to Fakecunt. It has a nice appeal to it. I am just attempting to have fun with this blog. If I hit the big time with my "Benny's Pick of the Week" videos that will be coming starting in August than I will see you all in blog hell!
Dude, did you delete Miggy's post? That is sooo wrong, you gulash eating polish sausage smoker (I'll attack the rest of your ethnicity later).
Go GU!
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