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Agents, athletes create mini-industry with NFL draft preparation

Agents, athletes create mini-industry with NFL draft preparation
Thu, Apr 12, 2007
By Associated Press
EUCLID, Ohio -- Hidden behind a former General Motors plant is the training center where Ted Ginn Jr. refined his blazing speed.

It's where Ginn, the Ohio State star and a sure first-round pick, has spent weeks leading up to the NFL draft - training alongside Renard Stevens, a wide receiver from a Division II school in West Virginia.

Unlike Ginn, Stevens has no guarantee of being drafted. He knew, though, that a strong time in the 40-yard dash and an impressive vertical jump at the NFL scouting combine in late February could raise his stock and improve his draft chances.

Agents and athletes, looking to climb up team's draft boards and cash in, have created a mini-industry for athletic trainers, spending millions of dollars in the weeks before the NFL draft.

''It's not an option now,'' said Danny Arnold, founder of the Plex training center in Stafford, Texas. ''Every agent has to send a player to a place like this. You end up spending the same amount of money on a first-round pick as you do a seventh-round pick.''

For players and their families there's much at stake, particularly in the first round - where falling a few spots can mean a much smaller contract. Agents, who get part of a player's earnings, have a lot on the line, too.

Speed Strength Systems, just east of Cleveland, has been preparing athletes for the NFL combine since 2001. When founder Tim Robertson started, he had little competition.

''It's a hot trend now, where everybody thinks that they can train athletes,'' Robertson said after spotting Ginn on a bench press.

Agent Eric Metz, who represents quarterback JaMarcus Russell of LSU, considered a possible No. 1 overall pick, said his firm, LMM Management, is spending about $300,000 on training and expenses for 10 players in the weeks leading up to the April 28-29 draft.

He said the turning point in training players came in 1992 when John Fina, who was rated as the 33rd-best offensive tackle in the draft, moved up to be a first-round pick with the Buffalo Bills. Metz credits Fina's pre-draft training for the dramatic jump. Fina went on to anchor the left side of the Bills' offensive line for nine seasons.

''The (other) agents criticized us and said there was nothing to it,'' Metz said. ''Now, they say look how you ruined the business, now we have to spend all this money preparing players.''

It costs $5,000 to $15,000 to train for two months at Arnold's facility, money typically paid by the player's agent.

Robertson charges $75 a day to prep athletes for the combine and pro days. Athletes put in three to five hours a day, three to six days a week for up to eight weeks.

His star client, Ginn, has been training at Speed Strength Systems since ninth grade and credits his work there with helping him lower his 40-yard dash time from more than 5 seconds down to 4.22.

''He can push you to be a first rounder,'' Ginn said of Robertson.

On an 8-degree February day, Ginn was among 10 players listening to hip hop and working out at the facility, far from the comfort of Ohio State's workout facilities. The temperature inside was a chilly 60 degrees at Speed Strength Systems, where the padding is torn on some of the weight benches.

''It's a factory,'' Robertson said. ''It's that no frills Rocky mentality.''

Robertson has his athletes work with a dietitian - some need to lose weight and others, such as Ginn, need to put some on.

''A lot of these guys don't eat well. It's a culture shock to them,'' Robertson said.

He also provides training techniques geared to improve performance on each of the drills. For the 225-pound bench press - in which players lift the bar as many times as possible - Robertson has them train with an elastic band tied to the bar. He promises an average increase of five repetitions.

''It's fun because everybody gets to motivate everybody, everybody gets to push everybody,'' Ginn said. ''It wouldn't be fun if you were just here by yourself, not having the guys around you to help you push. Me being a big name is really nothing, because we're all going for the same goal.''

Stevens, who played at West Liberty State College, traveled about three hours from West Virginia to train at Speed Strength Systems. Although he said the investment has been worth it, he was a little unnerved when he drove past the stacked pallets, trucks and weeds outside.

''When I first got here, I was like: 'Where am I going?''' Stevens said.

Players such as Marques Colston, a seventh-round pick out of Hofstra who surprised everyone with 1,038 yards and eight touchdowns for the New Orleans Saints last season, keep Stevens motivated to follow his dream.

''I'm going to chase it until my legs fall off,'' Stevens said.

Some trainers make promises that give athletes false perceptions about their chances of turning pro or oversell results when at best they can shave only a few tenths of a second off a 40-yard dash time, Metz said.

''They try to make it into something where if you run fast, you get drafted high. That's not the case,'' he said.

While training facilities are expensive, there are cheaper alternatives for those without an agent or still in high school. An internet search shows training help available for as low as $24.95, plus shipping and handling, for the Adam Archuleta Workout Video.

Sold by Pro-Tect Management of Pacific Palisades, Calif., the video provides the training program that Archuleta, a Chicago Bears safety, used in ''elevating himself from an undersized college walk-on to a first-round draft selection.''

NFL Draft - Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn Highlight Video

This is undoubtedly the longest highlight video I've ever seen for any one NFL Draft candidate. It's on Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, and contains many of his best throws in his best games. In this video, we see that Quinn can run, rollout, scramble, and throw on the run and while rolling out. We see him running play action, quaterback sneaks, and running to pick up a first down. It is long, but it's a very good assembly of Brady's talent.

Here's the video:

Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson - Highlight Video

Calvin Johnson's widely considered to be the number one wide receiver in the upcoming NFL Draft. Called -- for some reason -- "The Truth" it's nonetheless clear that he's a legend at Georgia Tech and may be the first player taken in the 2007 NFL Draft. Here's the video:

Quinn Says He Could Fix NFL Franchise

Quinn Says He Could Fix NFL Franchise
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Brady Quinn already has taken a down-and-out football team and turned it around. He figures he can do it again.

That's why the Notre Dame quarterback believes he is highly qualified to immediately help a troubled NFL franchise -- and why he should be the first Fighting Irish player taken with the opening pick in the NFL draft in 35 years.


"I've been through the adversity. I've gone through losing seasons. I know what it feels like to lose, but I know what it feels like to win," he said. "I know what it's like to go through that transition."

Quinn didn't say it, but he also knows what it's like to try to win when not all the pieces are in place. Quinn played on an Irish team that didn't have overpowering offensive lines and its defense was average at best.

Critics say Quinn couldn't win big games, but it's hard to beat Michigan, Southern Cal or LSU when the three scored an average of 44 points against the Irish last season.

"When Peyton Manning came out, people said he couldn't win the big one, he couldn't beat Florida," said Gil Brandt, an analyst for NFL.com, who was vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960-89. "People say the same thing about Brady Quinn. I disagree with all that. I think if it wasn't for Brady and his production, Notre Dame never would have been there playing LSU and they wouldn't have been playing in a game as big as the USC game was."

So the question facing NFL teams looking to use an early first-round draft pick on a quarterback is: Do you prefer Quinn or LSU's JaMarcus Russell?

Quinn was a four-year starter who passed for 11,762 yards and led his team to a 29-18 record, including 19-6 over his final two seasons. Russell was a two-year starter who threw for 6,525 yards and led his team to a 25-4 record.

Many drafts observers believe Quinn is more polished, but Russell might have more potential. Quinn states flatly that he is the better choice.

"JaMarcus obviously is a big kid with a strong arm. But I'm a big kid with a strong arm and much more," he said. "I'm not as big as him. I'm a little leaner. But I've played four years, started the past four years and been through a lot."

The stakes are high. NFL draft history is littered with failed college quarterbacks, such as Ryan Leaf, Heath Shuler, Todd Marinovich, Rick Mirer, Joey Harrington and others. But Brandt believes Quinn will succeed.

"I think the guy is a polished, mature individual that knows where he's going and knows how he's going to get there," he said.

Irish coach Charlie Weis, who concedes he is biased, said if he were an NFL head coach he would want Quinn on his team, saying he has that special "it" leaders have.

"I think that everything about him points to him being a successful quarterback in the NFL. The way he carries himself on and off the field, his athletic ability, his moxie, his leadership. That 'it' that certain people have, well he has it," he said. "I'm a big Brady Quinn fan."

Notre Dame hasn't produced a standout NFL quarterback since Joe Montana was taken by San Francisco in the third round of the 1979 draft. Steve Beuerlein, taken by the Raiders in the fourth round in 1987, had one Pro Bowl season with Carolina 12 years later. Mirer was the second pick overall in 1993 by Seattle and had a good rookie year, but he eventually became a journeyman.

Brandt said part of the problem is Notre Dame's quarterbacks tend to have inflated value because of the media spotlight on the school.

"Beano Cook created Ron Powlus because when he played there as a freshman he was going to be the Heisman Trophy winner for two years and so forth," he said. "I think that probably some of the quarterbacks they've had there were probably overrated. They probably weren't as good as people thought."

Another problem, he said, is that for years the Irish ran an option-oriented offense that didn't prepare players as well for the NFL.

Powlus, who is now the Irish quarterbacks coach after two years as director of personnel development, agrees, crediting the pro-style offense Weis brought to Notre Dame from New England.

"Every guy on our football team is more prepared for the NFL than a lot of other places because of coach Weis," he said.

Quinn, who also ran the West Coast offense for two years under Tyrone Willingham, says playing for Weis was an "internship" that taught him how to prepare for a game, how to deal with a head coach and what an NFL coach will expect from him.

"Every step of the way, Notre Dame has prepared me better than I think I would have been prepared at any other university," he said.

Quinn, who got a degree in December in finance and political science, has expressed frustration about reports of his draft status moving up or down. But more frustrating is not knowing where he will end up.

"I'll sit down and think, 'I don't have a clue where I'm going to live.' I'm one of those guys who like to plan ahead, so it's kind of hard," he said.

Weis doesn't know either, but he's confident Quinn will go early in the draft because he's ready to play early.

"I think that's significant. This is the day of free agency. You no longer have the luxury of taking someone that high in the draft and sitting there for a few years while you're waiting for them to get ready to play," he said. "You'd better be able to put them in there and play them."
 

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