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Labor and Agents

Johnson and Nicks make changes, return to previous agents

C AA Sports has re-signed Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson for representation on and off the ice, a little less than five years after he terminated his agreement with the agency.

At CAA Sports, Johnson will be represented by a team including CAA Hockey co-head Pat Brisson and hockey agents Judd Moldaver, Dee Rizzo and James Nice.

Johnson had been represented by his parents, Jack Johnson Sr. and Tina Johnson, until last year, when he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

CAA Sports is not involved in representing Johnson in his legal or financial matters, and Brisson had no comment on that, but he said he was pleased to have Johnson back as a client.

The Blue Jackets’ Jack Johnson is returning to agent Pat Brisson at CAA Sports.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
Brisson represented Johnson when he was the third pick in the 2005 draft, the same draft in which Brisson’s client, Sidney Crosby, was taken No. 1 overall. Johnson was picked by the Carolina Hurricanes and then traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 2006. “Jack was a client of ours before he got drafted, and we did his entry-level contract with the team [Kings],” Brisson said last week.

In November 2010, Johnson terminated CAA Sports as his agency, and his parents negotiated a seven-year, $30.5 million extension with the Kings in January 2011. He was traded to Columbus in 2012.

“Of course we felt bad when this happened, because we did have a good relationship with Jack,” Brisson said. But after Johnson left, Brisson and the other agents at CAA continued to see him, at hockey rinks and after NHL games.

“We had a great relationship, which we continued to have, you know, when we saw Jack,” Brisson said. “Then about six months ago or so, when all the issues came out, I got together with Jack a little bit after that and had some conversations with him and his fiancée and we were happy to work together again.”

Johnson has a few equipment deals but no major national endorsements. “Marketing-wise, we are just looking into that right now,” Brisson said.

He has three years left on his contract. “We can extend in two years from now,” Brisson said. “It could be extended in the summer of ’17. He becomes [an unrestricted free agent] at the end of his current contract.”

> NICKS RETURNS TO AGENT: Johnson is not the only first-round draft pick who returned to his original agent. Free agent wide receiver Hakeem Nicks has returned to Peter Schaffer, president and founder of Authentic Athletix, after about a year away.

Schaffer had represented Nicks when he was drafted No. 29 overall by the New York Giants in 2009.

He left Schaffer for CAA Sports and Roc Nation, where he was represented by CAA Football co-head Tom Condon and Roc Nation agent Kim Miale. Condon and Miale negotiated Nicks’ one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts last year, as part of a partnership the two agencies had to represent clients. CAA Sports and Roc Nation announced earlier this year they were concluding their partnership, as planned.

Nicks is a free agent again this year and he was visiting with teams last week.

> DOWN TO ONE: Washington Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams, who was the No. 4 pick overall in 2010, has also made an agent switch. Williams is now being represented by Vincent Taylor, owner of Elite Loyalty Sports, after terminating his contract with Ben Dogra, co-CEO of Relativity Football, and with Taylor.

Williams originally signed with Taylor and Eugene Parker, who was then CEO of Maximum Sports Management. After the 2010 draft, Williams fired Parker and Taylor and signed with Dogra, who was then co-head of CAA Football, and with Taylor. Dogra and Taylor negotiated Williams’ rookie deal.

Dogra was fired by CAA Sports last year and this year joined Relativity, where he is co-CEO of Relativity Football with Parker, who joined Relativity Sports in the summer of 2013. Under NFLPA rules, if a player is being co-represented by two agents and wants to sign with just one, the player must terminate both of them before re-signing with one. Williams terminated both Dogra and Taylor in late March before re-signing with Taylor.

Williams has one year left to go on his rookie deal.

Liz Mullen can by reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.

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