Roc Nation Sports has expanded its NFL practice by hiring another football agent, and has added another top-10 draft pick to its résumé.
The sports agency, which Jay Z’s Roc Nation launched in 2013, represents Notre Dame offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, picked No. 6 overall in the NFL draft late last month. The agency then hired agent John Thornton early last week.
Thornton, a former NFL defensive end who was certified by the NFL Players Association as a contract adviser in 2013, joined Octagon in 2014. He has a history with Roc Nation, serving as an adviser to New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith, a Roc Nation client.
A Roc Nation spokesman confirmed the hire but did not provide further details. Thornton did not return a phone call or a text. Octagon declined comment.
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John Thornton (right) signing Myles Jack while at Octagon.
Photo by: OCTAGON |
It is not clear how many clients will go with Thornton, but clients are expected to stay with Octagon, sources said. There is no fight over players or fees, a source said.
At the draft, Thornton was with Octagon employees at the table of Myles Jack, the UCLA linebacker who Thornton represented at Octagon. Sources said that Thornton had told Octagon he was leaving the firm and that the parting was amicable.
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Roc Nation’s Kim Miale with No. 6 pick Ronnie Stanley on draft night.
Photo: COURTESY OF ROC NATION SPORTS
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Jack, coming off a season-ending knee injury, was projected by many draft analysts as a high first-round selection, but Jacksonville took him in the second round at No. 36 overall.
Stanley, selected by Baltimore, gave Roc Nation Sports its second straight draft with a top-10 pick. Roc Nation’s Kim Miale has represented both of those picks, co-representing Todd Gurley last year with lead agent Ari Nissim.
Miale is the lead agent on Stanley, with Nissim as co-agent.
Stanley was the first offensive tackle taken this year. “I started recruiting Ronnie last year because he was potentially coming out,” Miale said. “I thought he would probably be the best tackle, even last year, if he came out.
“He considers himself an entrepreneur. … I thought he’d be a good fit for Roc Nation because of his talent on the field and his interests off the field.”
There has been some speculation in the media that Mississippi offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil’s sudden drop in the draft, after a video of him appearing to take a bong hit with a gas mask was posted to his Twitter account just before the draft, was the reason Stanley was taken sixth. Tunsil, projected as a top-five pick, was taken No. 13 overall by the Miami Dolphins.
But Miale said she had set up a workout and a dinner for the Ravens and Stanley on April 3 and that she was not surprised when Baltimore selected him.
Miale becomes part of an exclusive club; not many women have represented first-round NFL draft picks. Kelli Masters was widely reported to be the first woman in the top 10 when she co-represented the No. 3 pick in 2010.
“I don’t think of it that I am a woman; I just want to be the best agent possible,” Miale said. “It doesn’t mean that much to me, but at the same time if I can inspire the younger girls to get into the business and see that it is a possibility, [that] they shouldn’t look at it as an industry they should never be able to break into, that is sort of an ancillary benefit.”
