Uniform Athlete Agents Act Press Conference Transcript
"Thank you very much ladies and gentelemen for coming and joining us on this special occasion. Today marks an important development in intercollegiate athletics across New York State. We are pleased our senator, John DeFrancisco is with us this afternoon to deliver this important announcement. John is not only a good friend of the University, but also a staunch supporter of athletics and was instrumental in moving this new measure forward. He is also considered to be the best point guard in the state Senate. Please join me in welcoming Senator John DeFrancisco."
Senator John DeFrancisco
"Thank you Chancellor. I didn't realize that is what we were here for. I thought we were going make an announcement about baseball (laughing). Thank you all for coming. I think this is really a very important announcement.
Many of you have covered stories over the years where athletes are misrepresented and misrepresentations are made to athletes. They get involved in situations which affect their playing eligibility. Athletes who get into contracts that possibly are not in their best interests because of money being provided by unscrupulous agents. And you hear of universities that are penalized for something that is totally beyond their control. Information the universities don't even know about because an athlete does something illegally in respect to an agent and they end up being penalized, as well.
There has never been a remedy for any of these individuals and the agents really never had any accountability, in the State of New York anyway. So several years ago, at the prompting, quite frankly, of the Chancellor and Syracuse University, we thought it would be a good idea to provide some accountability for the unscrupulous agent. Obviously most agents are not. But it is the unscrupulous agent that provides these problems for student-athletes, as well as colleges and universities. The bill was signed a couple of weeks ago by the Governor: the Athlete Agent bill. Basically it does several things. First of all, it requires agents to register and there are certain reporting requirements concerning prior fines or penalties or judicial proceedings against them, criminal activitiy, things that have to be disclosed to the State of New York upon filing.
In addition to the filing requirements so that the State knows who the agents are, there is also a requirement that provides that the contract themselves have to have certain notices in bold print that the student-athlete has five days to rescind that particular agreement. And it has certain requirements to be printed in the agreement itself which advises the student-athlete of what the consequences are as far as his eligibility is concerned by signing such a contract.
In addition, it provides certain activities that are prohibited by the laws of agents. And if they violate those, they can be penalized. And if they violate those, it could result in a criminal penalty. And also, if a university loses revenue or is harmed in some way by the illegal activities of an agent, they would actually have a right to bring a suit to recover some of their losses as a result of these activities that would violate this law.
So I believe that the Governor was clearly right in signing this bill that took many years to negotiate to get the right wording that was acceptable to both Houses. I think, quite frankly, it will not only assist the athlete agent in doing things properly like they should, but most importantly, it will assist the student-athlete and the universities who were getting penalized for activities that were totally beyond their control. Thank you to all of the coaches for being here. I know that it is important to them. I appreciate their support in getting this legislation passed, as well."
Syracuse University Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel
"Thank you Senator. On behalf of our coaches, and I'm sure all college coaches across the entire State of New York, we want to thank you for your considerable efforts in securing passage of the Uniform Athlete Agents Act. Clearly, it is an important step in the effort to preserve the integrity of intercollegiate athletics. By creating and putting teeth into a regulatory process, that will make it a lot easier for us to enforce at the collegiate level. We do have the privilege of being joined this afternoon by three coaches who will represent their thoughts on this Act and I will call them up in order: Jim Boeheim and Paul Pasqualoni, whom I'm sure you are familiar with, and Pete Hoy, who is an assistant baseball coach at LeMoyne."
Jim Boeheim, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Syracuse University
"I would like to thank the Senator for this bill. It's a tremendous bill. It's one that can really help student-athletes, and in the long run, help everybody. The states that have this rule already passed have been relatively successful limiting agents' ability to come in under the radar, so to speak, and get involved with student-athletes who don't understand always the full extent of what can happen. As the Senator said, most agents are very good, they are very ethical and they are very upfront about what they do. But there is always going to be somebody who tries to take advantage and get in there early. Those are the guys who usually end up being the worst agents because they are not ethical and they don't do things the right way. This bill will be a good deterrent to those particular guys. We are appreciative of it."
Paul Pasqualoni, Head Football Coach, Syracuse University
"We would like to John a great deal. We think about this law and this bill almost every day, at least every week. It is disheartening when you finish the North Carolina game and walk out of the locker room and there are three or four unscrupulous agents. The first one is all over Johnnie Morant and the next one is all over Louis Gachelin. You turn the corner and there are two more waiting to jump them after the other two get done with them. So we think about this after almost every game, almost every summer. On behalf of the coaches, Coach Boeheim and everyone in the State of New York, this is a great step and sets a great example in joining the other states that have this. The American Football Coaches Association talks about this a great deal. This ties in very well with the guidance and direction we try to give our players in regard to their careers and dealing with the good agents and good representatives and doing what is best for them and their families. On behalf of everyone, John, we really appreciate it and it means a great deal."
Pete Hoy, Assistant Baseball Coach, LeMoyne College
"First of all, on behalf of LeMoyne College, I would like to thank Syracuse for inviting us here today. We enjoy our relationship with Syracuse University and we look forward to continuing our involvement with the Syracuse community. On behalf of LeMoyne College, (Athletic Director) Dick Rockwell and the Athletic Department, Steve Owens, our head baseball coach and rest of our staff, and most importantly the athletes, I am happy to be here to show my support and give our thanks to Senator DeFrancisco for the passing and signing of the Uniform Athlete Agents Act. LeMoyne College baseball has produced 43 professional players. I was one myself. I went on to play professionally, albeit for Red Sox (laughing). You get a chance to meet people. I met a lot of nice people. There are a lot of good people out there, but there a few out there that don't have the athlete's best interest at heart. This is one way to somewhat curb the bad intentions of some people. We are very appreciative of it. The players and athletes thank you Senator. We are very grateful that people are looking out for the athletes. As a college coach, you have a responsibility when recruiting kids. The athletes' best interest are always at heart. Anything that can help that, we appreciate. Thank you."
Questions and Answers:
Q: Senator, in talking with your colleagues in states that have a similar law, how successful have they been in enforcing it?
Senator DeFrancisco: "There are always going to be some agents who are going to get away with these types of activities. However, we have a strong bill that provides for potential criminal penalties. Many of the states do not have that. For the most part, they really feel that the bill is doing a good job. It is getting athletes the opportunity to really read something carefully because the print is so big before they do something. It's another reminder rather than just having a document put in front of them and dollars thrown at them. The reminder is extremely important. The notification to athletic directors of each college when such a contract is signed has been a godsend to many universities and colleges because then they at least have knowledge that this player has now signed with somebody. Otherwise, they could lose games that they have already won as a result of a player that has already signed as a professional with a contract playing in a game. So the universities have felt that has been extremely helpful. There is always going to be someone that is going to fall under the radar screen and not do what is supposed to be done. This provides a substantially better situation than in the other states."
Q: How common is the problem?
Senator DeFrancisco: "Without getting specific, I don't think you have go too far to see headlines about various colleges getting penalized as a result of someone signing with an agent. I think that it is true all throughout the country. It always seemed unfair to me that the colleges could get penalized and the colleges and other players on the team could not play in a bowl game, for example, or a tournament game because of something they had no control over. You'll hear that from time to time. There is no school that hasn't been concerned about it."
Jim Boeheim: "I think it's always a concern. The more documentation you have, this law being in affect will have some affect. There is always going to be somebody, as the Senator said, who is going to try to get around the law or the rule. I think this is one more way of making it known to the kids. It's one possible deterrent to the agents."
Paul Pasqualoni: "I would say that in our case, this gives us leverage. As I said earlier, we worry a great deal about this problem. I think the kids here have been fantastic. Our compliance people and this University do a great job in the educational process of how to handle this stuff. In all honesty, players we've had like a Marvin Harrison, like a Donovan McNabb, and currently players in our program will come in and say 'Coach, this individual contacted me, this group contacted me or after the game, a runner bumped me who was representing or running for another particular agent'. I think what this gives us now is leverage. We can say there is a law. There is a law that this has to be handled in a professional manner. I think this gives us a little more ammunition. I think it will be great for the kids."
Senator DeFrancisco: "And there was really no penalty before. There was no penalty to the agent. There is a penalty to the student-athlete. There is a penalty to the universities. There was no penalty to the agent. It seems to me, you are more apt to get some types of reasonable integrity with agents when there is a criminal sanction possible against them or a lawsuit by a college or university for revenues loss because they lost eligibility or lost a tournament opportunity or whatever. I think that is the most important thing, the fact that there is now a remedy when there was none before."
Chancellor Shaw: "I would like to thank the Senator also for his perseverance and Beth Rougeux of the Syracuse University Government Relations staff because we have been at this for a number of years. The Senator never quit on it. At one point I said to the Senator, 'Well, at some point we probably ought to forget about it if we can't get it.' He said, 'No, I'm happy to stick with it.' And he did. He stuck with it and got it done."
Senator DeFrancisco: "The sticking points were what were the appropriate remedies, whether this was too stiff or not stiff enough. Everyone agreed with the concept of the need for it. The question was what were the appropriate remedies."
Q: If there are 14 states that don't have this law, do the coaches have to warn their players about agents when the play in these states?
Coach Pasqualoni: "Our kids are aware of that after every game. We have compliance people who actually travel with us. Our Director of Football Operations, Reggie Terry, has tremendous knowledge and background on this having worked in the NFL. This is something that when we go on the road, we are sensitive to. When we leave the stadium, our eyes are open. We are not naïve."
