Is Drew Rosenhaus bad for the NFL? The way I see it he is no different than the hundreds of other NFL agents that ply their trade without media recognition. Sure, he is more aggressive, but the techniques he uses have been around for years. The holdout is nothing new; many players hold out each year in hopes of receiving more money.

What sets Rosenhaus apart isn’t what he does, but how he does it. Most agents(and players) prefer their negotiations to be private. Rosenhaus’s players on the other hand, go the media as much as they can. Terrell Owens is on TV these days more than most reality stars. Rosenhaus places his players in the media spotlight, hoping that media coverage will spur the team owners and managers to give in to his demands. Does it work? The answer has to be yes.

This returns me to my original question: Is Drew Rosenhaus bad for the NFL? As I just stated, Rosenhaus’s high pressure, public negotiating style worked in the past. It worked because owners gave him the money, not because he is imbued with any special powers. It is human nature to want more money, and thus players turn to Drew Rosenhaus because he has had success in the past with getting money to players such as Clinton Portis. However, Drew Rosenhaus is merely the facilitator in this exchange. His tactics are designed to force the owners to respond, usually by giving the player what he demands. Rosenhaus gets away with demanding more because the owners give him more. Ultimately, Drew Rosenhaus is not a villain but a natural reaction to athletes wanting more money.

Football contract negotiations, of all things, do not breed heroes or villains. Nobody is a bad guy, and on the other hand, there is no “good guy”, although the media may attempt to label people as such. Rosenhaus is neither a good nor a bad guy, and likewise is neither good nor bad for the NFL. As long as a means (Rosenhaus) exists to get more money, athletes will try it. And as long as the owners keep paying, Rosenhaus will continue to exist. In fact, Rosenhaus may only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to trying new strategies to get more money. But ultimately, you can’t judge him as “bad,” for he exists because of the owners and the players, not vice versa.

Vikas Paruchuri is a sports columnist who writes on the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. He maintains a website at http://www.thehomefield.com with sports analysis and opinion columns.

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