View full sizeFlorida quarterback Jeff Driskel (16) is stopped by Alabama defensive lineman Jesse Williams, center, and linebacker Courtney Upshaw (41) during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/Rick Wilson)MOBILE, Alabama -- Almost everywhere
Courtney Upshaw
steps, there's someone representing him nearby.
Alabama's former star linebacker swiftly picked an agent to represent him as he prepares for the NFL draft. Soon after Alabama won the national championship, Upshaw was in Atlanta interviewing agents. It was a simple process, he said, to pick Octagon Sports.
But it's not always simple, as former Crimson Tide teammate
Trent Richardson
learned.
"Man, people say recruiting is hard," Richardson said last week. "Choosing a college is hard to go through. But this right here is probably the hardest thing ever because everybody tells you what you want to hear. It ain't nothing but deja vu, for real."
Alabama running back Trent Richardson speaks to reporters during a news conference on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, in Montgomery, Ala. Alabama is scheduled to face LSU in the BCS championship NCAA college football game on Jan. 9. (AP Photo/The Montgomery Advertiser, Amanda Sowards) NO SALESRichardson, who is leaving for the NFL with one year of eligibility left, said Saturday he planned to talk with his family and pray about the decision.
Multiple sources confirmed to al.com newspapers Wednesday that Richardson, a 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist and Doak Walker Award winner, signed with CAA Sports and well-known Memphis agent
Jimmy Sexton
.
Sexton also represents Alabama coach
Nick Saban
and Colorado State coach
Jim McElwain
, who was Alabama's offensive coordinator the past four seasons.
Richardson, who flew to Athletes' Performance in Phoenix on Sunday to begin workouts for the NFL scouting combine, leaned on various players who have been through the agent selection process.
One source said Richardson leaned heavily on former Alabama wide receiver
Julio Jones
, who signed with Sexton last year.
Richardson said he also spoke with former Alabama player
Roy Upchurch
and 2009 Heisman Trophy winner
Mark Ingram
. He also connected with people from his hometown of Pensacola, Florida, including former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star
Derrick Brooks
, boxer
Roy Jones Jr.
, and track star
Justin Gatlin
.
Richardson said he had concerns. He grew up in an area of Pensacola where the tough streets made it tough to escape. But he is on the cusp of becoming a multimillionaire as a projected first-round draft pick.
In an NFL world where instant wealth comes and goes quickly, Richardson said he wanted an agent that was in for the long haul.
"(I don't want to be) one of those clients that if I get hurt or something like that you're not gonna pick up the phone when I call you," Richardson said. "It's a big concern for me."
As is his family. Richardson, who has two daughters, said he wants "to make sure my mom's taken care of, and making sure she has the best doctor, my grandmom and stuff like that, and make sure my kids are straight. ... But when everybody's saying the same thing, it's kind of hard. Somebody's trying to bargain a better deal than the other guys are doing. It's hard."
Saban was asked Monday at Senior Bowl practice what he does to help educate Alabama's NFL prospects.
"We have an agent education program, and
Joe Mendes
is a part of our staff, who was a former personnel guy with the Washington Redskins," said Saban, who famously compared unscrupulous agents to pimps during SEC media days in 2010. "I think he's done a fabulous job of giving the families as well as our players a lot of background information on things they need to do to go through the selection process of an agent. There's a lot of wonderful agents out there."
Upshaw, one of the top prospects at the Senior Bowl this week, made his process sound simple.
"It wasn't hard for me," he said. "Anybody that tried to contact me, text me, anything like that, I told them I wasn't meeting with anybody or seeing anybody until after the season. And that's what I did, I stuck to that. I actually met with five different agents in Atlanta two days after (the national championship game). It worked out best for me."