Heisman Trophy winner and Oregon quarterback
Marcus Mariota, who could be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, may take some time to pick an agent.
“I can tell you right now he has not met with an agent,” Jeff Hawkins, Oregon’s director of football operations, told SportsBusiness Journal last week. “Marcus hasn’t decided exactly what he is going to do yet. His parents and I have met with them [agents], but he has not,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins declined to name the agents with whom Mariota’s parents, Alana and Toa Mariota, have met.
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Oregon’s Mariota is seen as a potential top selection in the coming NFL draft.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Oregon plays Ohio State tonight in the first College Football Playoff National Championship, and while that may be great for football fans, it delays the players from both schools from signing with an agent for the draft and getting into training for the draft and the NFL combine. Players who are seen as real NFL draft prospects often sign with agents soon after their last college bowl games, and agents typically pay the tab for pre-draft training. The new postseason format has pushed that date even later for the players who will take the field tonight.
“The January 12 College Football Playoff National Championship game is the latest title game that we are aware of,” said Lauren Lanier, College Football Playoff communications coordinator, in an email.
Mariota is widely seen by draft analysts as the likely top draft pick, although he is not the consensus No. 1 pick, said Rob Rang, CBS Sports senior NFL draft analyst. There are 10 to 15 draftable players combined at Ohio State and Oregon, Rang said, adding that Mariota is the only one from either school that he has going in the first round.
Hawkins said that although Mariota has not met with agents, other Ducks players have done so. During the week before the Rose Bowl, Hawkins and two other Oregon school officials oversaw agent interviews for several players. As previously reported, Oregon has a new agent law that went into effect Jan. 1, 2014, that provides strict penalties for any agent, marketing representative or financial adviser who does anything that causes a player to lose his college eligibility. Hawkins and the other Oregon officials oversaw the agent interviews to ensure the requirements of the law were met.
As for the players who did meet with agents, Hawkins said, “What I have told them, just so they know, is, ‘You might know in your mind who you want to pick, but you can’t share that with them until after the gun sounds.’”
> CLAYBORNE LAUNCHES FIRM, SIGNS ANOTHER PROSPECT: NFL agent Joseph Clayborne has launched his own player representation firm, Agility Sports, and has signed University of Missouri defensive end Markus Golden.
This is the second year in a row that Clayborne, who was certified by the
NFL Players Association to represent players in contract talks with clubs in 2013, surprised the industry by signing a highly rated player. Last year, Clayborne signed
Kony Ealy, who also played defensive end for Missouri and who was picked in the second round by the Carolina Panthers.
Clayborne co-represents Ealy with veteran agent Andy Ross. Clayborne is representing Golden by himself.
CBS Sports’ Rang said he ranks Golden, who won the MVP at the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, as a “solid” second-round draft prospect.
“I am sure a lot of agents, people in the industry, feel it would be a one-time thing,” Clayborne said. “But I am a hard worker, and this [being an agent] is going to be what I do with my career.”
> WASSERMAN SIGNS FINAU: Wasserman Media Group has signed PGA Tour rookie Tony Finau for representation in all areas.
Finau, who last week was 14th in the FedEx Cup rankings, will be represented by Christopher Armstrong, a senior vice president in Wasserman’s golf division. He was represented by 1 Degree Management.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
