ILLEGAL PROCEDURE

Former sports agent Luchs uncovers the thinly veiled corruption within big-time college football, as agents do whatever it takes to get stars to the NFL.

In the multibillion-dollar college-sports industry, the agent who is able to befriend the star player, become his “confidant, advisor, and shrink,” will probably end up his agent when he turns pro. This is what Luchs accomplished fairly well for 18 years. Contacting a player early in his college career is illegal, as is paying him money, providing him a car or a condo, paying for vacation trips and covering up his transgressions. As a player neared the NFL draft, Luchs would cook the data on his strength and conditioning, provide him with answers to the Wonderlic IQ test and hire NFL coaches to privately train the young player. The author contends that the majority of sports agents are in on it. College coaches funnel their players to their own agents, sports gurus tout particular players for particular agents and governing agencies like the NCAA and the NFL Players Association turn a blind eye to the corruption all around them. Many of Luchs’ claims will be familiar to sports aficionados, but his book is unique in two ways: He names names, and he writes (assisted by co-author Dale) with humor, honesty and, for a sports agent, a reasonable amount of humility. He changed from a young boy fascinated by sports to a hustler without rules, and in the end found it all “soul-eating”—so he eventually got out. Can big-time sports, especially football, be reformed? Luchs says it can, but not easily. Fundamental changes must occur, including sharing with the players the billions that colleges make off them. A troubling, entertaining indictment of the hypocrisy of big-time sports.