Mendes helps prospects find right agents

There were days — too many days — when Joe Mendes saw a college player’s chances of making it in the NFL end prematurely.

The entourage of bad agents, shaky financial advisors and uninformed posses proved more burdensome than beneficial.

Sometimes it cost the player a few seasons. Too often, it cost a player his entire career. The sharks moved on to new prey, the player discovered the working class life.

It might not have happened if only someone neutral had interceded.

“Players want direction,” said Mendes, the former vice president of the Washington Redskins. “They just want honest direction. They don’t want to be told what to do, but be put in position to make the best decisions.”

Mendes was fired from the Redskins in June2003 because, he says, he was unwilling to accept owner Dan Snyder’s free spending on free agents.

Mendes declined offers to become an agent. He instead wanted to create his own company to help college players entering the pros. After spending one year to ensure compliance with NCAA rules governing contact with players with eligibility, Mendes is now seeking his first clients for the 2006 NFL draft.

Mendes wants to help high-round prospects choose an agent among potential suitors. Cornerstone Sports Consulting and Management also provides assistance on choosing a financial planner along with marketing and public relations training.

“This [company] gives the kids options on how they want to approach a major, major decision in their professional life,” Mendes said. “It’s their baptism into professional sports, so they should be better equipped to make better decisions. An agent who’s terrible can cost you some money. A financial advisor can cost you a financial life, but there’s not enough emphasis on that.”

Big business

Even the lowest of rookie free agents now earn $230,000, and top draft choices draw eight-figure bonuses — which prompts college players to plan even earlier for the draft.

Many top prospects, in fact, leave school after their bowl games to train for scouting combines and personal workouts.

Mendes spotted a gap in the system that moves players from the college ranks to the pros: Agents handle contracts and players’ off-field passions. There are publicists, endorsement agents and gadflies offering personal services.

However, no one was preparing players for the rigors of NFL life. The NFL Players Association holds a three-day seminar for rookies before training camp at which they explore off-field issues ranging from financial planning to sexual harassment.

Maryland, similarly, is among the growing number of colleges that have created positions for post-career counselors to help handle agents and pro scouts.

Kevin Glover, a former Terrapins offensive lineman and a three-time Pro Bowler, is director of character education. He returned to Maryland last year to help players after seeing horror stories develop for those entering the NFL.

“We always knew there was a need [for advisors],” Glover said. “Once you’re in the league for a while, you hear the stories and know there’s a problem. It can be very overwhelming. You get all these people contacting you and friends and family members boosting you up. It can be a bit much.”

But certain players still need help choosing among the sometimes dozens of agents that begin contacting them unofficially in their freshman years.

The wrong choice can prove disastrous.

After 22 years in NFL front offices, including eight years with the Redskins, Mendes knows the strengths and weaknesses of most agents and he hopes he can match them to a player’s needs.

“The agent selection process has evolved into something closer to being a car salesman than being a professional,” Mendes said. “If a person went onto a car lot and was harassed by a salesman, they’d walk off the lot, but in this arena it’s the norm and expected to be that way.”

Some agents might not find Mendes’ approach troublesome despite getting between them and prospective clients.

“Agents who are above board won’t have a problem with this,” said Brigg Owens, a former Redskins safety who’s now a District-based agent. “Players need to be educated.”

No bling-bling

It’s not about finding the latest video games for players or getting them a good deal on cars or jewelry. Mendes lets other people rely on the “bling-bling” factor.

Nor is it all about hanging around player dorms or parking lots trying to become someone’s new best friend.

Mendes sidesteps the intense recruiting pitches of some agents. He’s an advisor who’s paid a flat five-figure fee instead of a percentage of the player’s contract. Mendes may be going after the same kids the Leigh Steinbergs and Drew Rosenhauses are seeking, but he can go through “the front door.”

The NCAA doesn’t sanction agents or advisors. At best, not opposing someone’s activities serves as unofficial approval. An NCAA spokesman said it met with Mendes and saw no problem with his company. Not a glowing tribute, but in translation that means Mendes passed the smell test.

“It’s amazing the positive response you get from the school just by trying to do something right,” Mendes said.

Redskins-free

Mendes admits he didn’t know what to do with his weekends off when he departed the Redskins, where one day off a month wasn’t unusual. Getting a full night’s sleep is a challenge for some of the organization’s top officials.

“It was a real eye-opener,” Mendes said of his previous schedule. “But working in the NFL, you never have to grow up. You’re involved in your childhood dream. I didn’t consider it working.”

Mendes still watches Redskins games from his Leesburg, Va., home, but he also has become a doting, first-time father with his 20-month-old son, Joey.

“It’s great timing and a wonderful blessing that Sandy and I are blessed with Joey at this stage in our lives,” Mendes said. “I hope he plays the piano [instead of football].”

Many former Redskins employees were embittered by the mass exodus of late owner Jack Kent Cooke’s staff after Snyder took over the team in 1999 — an exodus so sudden and heavy it even spawned an alumni association.

Mendes, however, said his exit wasn’t personal.

“Mr. Snyder always treated me with the utmost respect,” he said. “As an organization, I have a different approach on how to assemble a football team within the salary cap than other people surrounding Mr. Snyder.”