Veteran sports marketer Mike Ornstein says his newest client, top NFL prospect and former Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree, is as marketable today as a former Ornstein star client was when he was drafted.
“Michael Crabtree is the Reggie Bush of this draft,” Ornstein said last week. Ornstein negotiated several deals for Bush before and after the New Orleans Saints made him the No. 2 pick overall in the 2006 draft, including deals with Adidas, Hummer and Subway. Bush fired Ornstein as his marketing agent in late 2007.
Ornstein, along with independent marketing agent Peter Miller, recently signed agreements to co-represent Crabtree for marketing work. Veteran NFL agent Eugene Parker has signed Crabtree for NFL club contract negotiations. Crabtree was ranked No. 4 on the mock draft by NFLDraftBlitz.com last week.
Crabtree is already drawing interest
from shoe companies, one of his
newly signed marketing agents says.
“The same model we used for Reggie Bush, we are going to use for [Crabtree],” Ornstein said last week. That includes a shoe deal that offers Crabtree significant exposure as well as deals with other non-endemic corporations. “We are going after the same type of [companies]: the Hummer deals, the Subway deals, the Pepsi deals,” Ornstein said.
The endorsement deals will each have a charitable component, Ornstein said. Bush and the companies he endorsed were lauded for the charitable work they did for New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Ornstein, interviewed last week and a few days after he and Miller signed Crabtree, said: “We have already talked to all four shoe companies. There is unbelievable interest.”
Ornstein and Miller worked together at Reebok earlier this decade and said they felt comfortable pairing up to represent Crabtree.
Said Miller: “I don’t see anyone in this draft class who makes you go, ‘Wow,’ other than Crabtree. He is the one guy coming into this draft with a lot of hype.”
SUPER WEEKEND FOR MILLER: For Miller and his Boston-based company Jabez Marketing, signing Crabtree as a client wasn’t the only good news over Super Bowl weekend. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes, a client, was named Super Bowl MVP after making the winning catch in the final minute.
“I guess [Super Bowl] weekend was a great weekend,” Miller said. “When you get a guy who is named Super Bowl MVP, it changes everything. And having Crabtree as the most marketable guy in the draft is phenomenal.”
Joel Segal, head of football for Blue Entertainment Sports Television, has represented Holmes since he was picked No. 25 overall in the 2006 draft. (Segal also represents Bush for contract work.) Segal said last week he had some nail-biting moments in his seat at the stadium while NFL officials reviewed the winning touchdown catch. “When Santonio caught the ball, my first reaction was, ‘Were both feet in?’” Segal said.
Holmes is in his third year of a five-year deal with the Steelers. “His Super Bowl performance was really a continuation of what he has been doing during the regular season,” Segal said.
ALL PRO SIGNS JOHNSON: All Pro Sports & Entertainment has signed Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson for representation. Agent Peter Schaffer, who runs the Denver-based firm with partner Lamont Smith, will represent Johnson.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
