To NFL agent Ed Wasielewski, his players, his guys, the charges he makes a living looking after from a personal as well as a professional standpoint, aren't commodities. Sure, under Wasielewski and the rest of EMG Sports' watchful eye and guided by Wasielewski and Co.'s steady hand, NFL players like Cody Latimer and Marcus Easley can develop a brand, build a corporation. But as much as those fiscal opportunities may represent selling points which draw players to EMG Sports, it's not Wasielewski's work with figures and dollar signs, he believes, that keep players with him, not what causes new ones to join his side every NFL draft season. No, to Wasielewski his players aren't just brands or corporations or business entities - they're part of his and the EMG Sports family. And while Wasielewski boasts a modest client base in the here and now, his immediate NFL family may very well be on the verge of expanding as he and EMG are set to appear in Esquire Network's new documentary series, "The Agent."
The show, which premieres Tuesday, will follow the daily lives of a small group of NFL agents - Wasielewski, Sunny Shah, Peter Schaffer and Jeff Guerriero - and provide diehard fans, as well as those with only a general NFL interest, a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into what really transpires every draft season between NFL hopefuls and the real men and women - not super agents like Drew Rosenhaus - who look to shepherd players through the myriad trials and tribulations of a professional football life.
"For me, a lot of people that I talk to that are very curious about 'what does a sports agent do? What does a football agent do?' There are some common misconceptions about what we do and for the most part, agents are hard working, regular guys that have a passion for working with their clients, providing a high level of service," Wasielewski told HNGN recently.
"I'm a full time agent. I do this around the clock. It's a lifestyle for me. And I'm really blessed to have a great group of clients that I work for and a great team around me that helps me with all the clients. So I think the show is going to show the different layers of an agent's job, not just contract negotiator."
Amani Martin, a former HBO Real Sports producer and writer/producer of the 30 for 30 documentary 'Benji,' which chronicled the rise and horrific fall of one-time future NBA star, Ben Wilson, began filming Wasielewski and his EMG Sports cohorts as they went through the process of pitching potential clients ahead of this past April's 2015 NFL Draft. From attending college football games to an annual New York City retreat, replete with financial advisors, accountants and an EMG Sports group photoshoot, Martin and his crew began to get an inside look and a real idea of just what the life of an NFL agent entails.
"As a documentary filmmaker, I'm usually most interested in the side of the story that people just don't see," Martin told HNGN. "And what was most interesting to me was the business aspect. That these guys were part of this business that seems very sexy - when you think of an agent, you might think of Jerry McGuire or the most successful agent that you hear about. But really it's about these guys who are in some way like Willy Loman, 'Death of a Salesman,' the guys who are just grinding it out in a very, very tough business that is very intimately connected to the nation's most popular sport."
While a partnership on a previous project that never came to fruition originally brought Wasielewski and Martin into a similar orbit, it wasn't until the concept for "The Agent" began developing that the pair were able to join forces.
"Ed was a guy who was just extremely articulate about talking about the business, frustrations of the business and a guy who, if he was thinking purely logically, he would leave being an agent and just use his law degree and have an easier life," said Martin. "But he has such a deep passion for the sport, such a deep connection to his players, he saw it more as a calling than anything else."
Wasielewski, who now has 12-years as NFL agent under his belt, hopes the show helps dispel certain common misconceptions about the job and peels back the layers on a mostly backroom industry that is much-discussed in the media - especially as it pertains to players and teams and who will end up where at the outset of the free agency period every new league year - but about which little is really known.
"Part of this show is I really wanted to show people what we do on a daily basis," said Wasielewski. "That we are a hardworking group of men and women and we're really going to take care of our clients and be advocates for our players."
While agents are known mostly for their contract work, Wasielewski hopes to build the EMG Sports brand on the back of his ability to provide a plethora of services for players. That's a key element he hopes comes to the fore during the show's initial ten-episode run.
"That's a big part of what we do, don't get me wrong, that's very important to negotiate a contract, but a player is only going to get two to three contracts in his career. There are a lot of levels there that you're working on getting PR for your clients. You're working on marketing deals. I'm also - I'm an attorney by trade - so I put my attorney hat on when I'm working on if a player gets injured, if he has medical issues. I work out a settlement with a team. So there's a lot of different hats that agents wear."
From his very first client, former Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers safety Jermaine Hardy, to recent high draft picks like Latimer, the Denver Broncos wide receiver, and Ibraheim Campbell, the newly-minted Cleveland Browns safety, Wasielewski says it's his attention to detail and the importance he places on ensuring these players succeed and, at the same time, provide for themselves and their families, that has EMG Sports growing.
"I say it to my players all the time; 'you are no longer just a player.' I tell them, 'you're Cody Latimer incorporated.' 'You're Danny Lansanah incorporated.' 'You're Marcus Easley incorporated.' And they know that.
"Unlike a lot of other businesses that can run for 50, 60, 100 years, NFL players can only play for a few years - the average career is only three and a half year long. You really want to squeeze the most out of it in those three and a half year."
Wasielewski deems EMG Sports a "boutique agency" and says it with a seeming sense of pride, meaning that in a billion dollar football business predicated on constant growth he has no desire to expand too far, garner too large a client base. He wants to ensure that his success and that of his players is entwined and to do so, he has to maintain that familial atmosphere, that attention to detail.
Hardy, for instance, Wasielewski's very first client, was signed after touch-and-go negotiations between a new-to-the-game Wasielewski and two other agents. It took a personal meeting - Wasielewski flew on short notice from Philadelphia to meet with Hardy and his family when the other agents wouldn't, an example of that hard work, attention to detail and personal touch that Wasielewski says separates he and EMG Sports from other sports agencies - to ensure Hardy would sign on the dotted line.
Hardy signed with the Arizona Cardinals but, most importantly, Wasielewski's efforts on Hardy's behalf impressed another of the former University of Virginia safety's teammates and that player wound up signing a deal with Wasielewski as well.
The story is one that highlights both the word-of-mouth manner in which sports agents are able to build a clientele and makes clear that fans hoping for wall-to-wall glitz and glamour in "The Agent," may be a little disappointed. As Wasielewski and Martin make clear, it's a tough job going to college games, going to meetings, and maintaining daily contact with these NFL hopefuls - what Wasielewski terms "hustling." The day-to-day work of an NFL agent is, despite the outward appearance of a super agent like Rosenhaus, very much a grind.
For the agents pursuing these players every year, there are no guarantees. Wasielewski and his fellow representatives may chase a player for weeks, months, a year, invest money and time and effort into bringing a player onboard at EMG Sports and in the end, it's often all for naught.
"You put a lot of time and effort into recruiting one player. A lot of phones calls, a lot of emails, a lot of text messages, a lot of day-to-day contact or correspondence. And then if he signs with another agency, you're done, it's over. That's a tough part of the business that the show's going to reveal," said Wasielewski.
"During the college football season, they're in the process of figuring out who they're going to try to sign, going out and meeting athletes, meeting families and figuring out who they're going to invest in," Martin said. "It's something I didn't really understand prior to getting involved in the project was the kind of an investment for an agent to sign a player."
Once a player signs with an agent, the cost for the agent skyrockets. Training, combine preparation, clothing, meals all become part of the agent's domain.
"I think a lot of people, they think you're always negotiating a contract. Even if a player signs a one-year contract with the team, you don't have anymore contract negotiations per se to do, so what else are you doing for that player? Well there's a ton of other stuff that needs to be done. We're managing a player's career on and off a field. So you want to make sure your players are surrounded by a financial team coming out of college, financial advisors. You want to make sure that they set up a corporation for their off-the-field work.
"It's really top to bottom."
With "The Agent," the NFL-viewing public is set for a never before seen look at this world we already know is inhabited by million dollar athletes, but is also filled to the brim with normal men and women like Wasielewski just looking to provide guidance and build a brand of their own.
"Our job as an agent is to look out for the player's best interest, period," said Wasielewski. "So I think one of the reasons why I'm doing this show is it will provide our clients, our team, myself, exposure on a national level. People will be able to see what we do. How we take care of our clients.
"With more exposure will come more opportunities for my clients and my team."
"The Agent" will debut on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. on Esquire Network.
