Whether it was Jerry McGuire screaming “Show me the money!”, or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson cutting deals in the HBO series “Ballers”, many of us fantasize about being the agent rather than the athlete, when it comes to life in the NFL.
As in most endeavors that have a national reach, the coasts are where you’ll find most of the action but as with most endeavors, the Twins Cities boasts at least one entity that is very much in the game.
Minneapolis-based The Institute for Athletes (IFA) is the brainchild of Minnetonka native Blake Baratz who moved home from Los Angeles to open IFA, back in 2009. Today with a fulltime staff of seven and three consultants, including former Vikings GM Jeff Diamond, IFA has carved-out a niche clientele, the most recognized locally being Vikings All-Pro wide receiver Adam Thielen.
“We have a strong list of clients who have succeeded despite being drafted late or by going un-drafted,” says Baratz. “To me, it doesn’t start on draft day. It starts six months before and our message doesn’t change. Our philosophy doesn’t change.”
Baratz’s interest was first sparked when he was playing tennis at the University of Wisconsin, and he got to know a number of high-profile players in the Badger football program. Baratz asked them questions about their representation and saw opportunity in their answers.
“They weren’t really sure what their agent did and I started thinking, these are pretty low-maintenance guys who write a pretty big check and I knew the statistics about a lot of them going broke and a light went-off in my head,” says Baratz. “If these are the biggest agents in the game and they’re not even known or really respected by their players, then I knew there was an opportunity to impact the industry a little bit.”
IFA seeks to impact the industry by emphasizing value over volume. The IFA philosophy is to find players who not only have physical talent, but, who’ve demonstrated the intelligence and character required to beat the long odds of going from late pick or undrafted, onto an NFL roster.
“We can’t run around putting a lot of time, effort and energy into a 6th or 7th-round guy unless they do everything right because the odds of them making it are slim, even if they do everything right," says Baratz. "So, if they have character issues or work issues or maturity issues then it’s not something that we’re going to invest the time into.”
There must be something to the IFA formula because they have 25 players currently on NFL rosters, including defensive lineman Jonathan Allen who was taken in the 1st round last year, 17th overall, by Washington.
Baratz calls the NFL draft a “made for TV event, on par with Desperate Housewives.” But, no matter what happens during those three days of the draft, Baratz says, the work is only just beginning.
“The ideas is, you get in, you work hard, you learn the playbook, you figure out your place on the team, you continue to grow in the off-season, you do your very best to take care of your body and you continue to get closer to that second contract, because it’s that second contract where you really have an opportunity to set yourself up for life.”
That concept of setting-up a player for life has led IFA to spin-off Elevation Sports Marketing. As the name implies, Elevation seeks to take their agency approach into a whole new ballgame.
“We tried to come up with some needs out there in the sports world and what can we do specifically to solve those areas of need and there were two things,” says Baratz. “One... all these professional athletes here are not taking advantage of their opportunities off the field. And two... when we were talking to General Mills, Jack Links, Panera and all these different companies we started to delve into the things that they’re trying to solve in the sports marketing space and saying, ‘Wait, hold on a minute, we can actually help in a whole bunch of areas. We can help you activate whatever kind of partnership you have, we can give you ROI on whether that partnership makes sense or doesn’t make sense.’ So, it’s been awesome. It’s been great. We’re just now getting the tip of the iceberg, but it’s got me kind of reinvigorated about how we can help in a lot of different areas.”
IFA took full advantage of the recent Super Bowl to launch Elevation Marketing by holding VIP parties that drew the likes of Jamie Fox, Shaquille O’Neal, Mark Cuban and Baker Mayfield. Luke Inveiss, IFA’s V.P. of marketing sees the introduction of Elevation as more than a “win-win” situation for the athletes and their corporate partners.
“It really comes back to the team getting a lot of added value as well,” says Inveiss. “Adam obviously has built himself a ton of good will here but that only helps the Minnesota Vikings brand and only helps put people in the seats for the Minnesota Vikings. So we can really be a partner for all the sports organizations here and there’s a huge benefit to it for the teams, for the athletes, for the corporations. And it’s gotten great feedback from our current clients and from prospective clients that we’ve been talking to.”
But, this week IFA’s full attention is focused on the NFL Draft, where two clients, John Kelly of Tennessee and Kamryn Pettway of Auburn both are projected as mid to late round picks, in what is considered to be a very strong class of running backs.
“You prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and hope you go to a great situation,” says Baratz. “The draft should be the greatest day of your entire life. But, if you put an expectation on it that you’re going to go 31st and you go 112th, you’re going to leave disappointed. But if you put the expectation on that you’re going to be on a national football league team by the end of Saturday, you’re going be happy wherever you go, and it’s a hell of an accomplishment. You’re in the national football league!”
No matter what happens Thursday through Saturday in the draft, the IFA team will still be working on Sunday when teams try to scoop-up those players who went un-drafted but still have a chance to make an NFL roster.
“Their offers will come on that Sunday morning after the draft when teams are trying to fill-out the practice teams for the mini-camp the week after and two weeks after, and they really have to go in there and give it their best with that opportunity," says Inveiss. "And for a couple of guys we’re working with, they have to get CFL workouts also because we’re trying to get guys in there also. A lot of those guys need a year or two of development physically and mentally, because there’s a huge jump from D-2 or 3 to the NFL so you need a year or two in development and a lot of guys try to go straight from college to the NFL and rookie mini-camp and get cut and there’s no other real opportunity for them, because the next year there’s another thousand players trying to get in.”
So when will Blake Baratz know whether or not all their hard work paid-off?
“Ask me in four years and I’ll tell you how this year’s draft went.”
Wolves Game-3 Win: Real or Mirage?
We don’t have to wait long to find out if the Timberwolves game-3 win over Houston Saturday night was a bonafide breakthrough or an aberration. As we saw in the Wild’s series against Winnipeg, coming home to win Game 3 is one thing. Building on it is quite another.
The T-Wolves rewarded their fans and themselves when they ended a 14-year playoff drought by roughing-up the Rockets, 121-105, Saturday night. While the much maligned Andrew Wiggins continues to play solidly in this series, Game 3 featured bounce-back performances by Jimmy Butler and Karl Anthony Towns, and a contribution from the T-Wolves bench.
Not to be outdone in terms of impact is the solid play of point guard Jeff Teague. Teague, who’s never missed the playoffs in his NBA career, hit 9-of-14 shots, including 3-of-5, from beyond the 3-point arc, while dishing-out 8-assists.
Teague is a proven winner, and it’s no coincidence that this team plays their best when he’s on top of his game. If the Timberwolves are going to make this a series against the Rockets Teague is going to have to deliver a similar performance in Game 4 Monday night, something that won’t come easy against perennial all-stars James Harden and Chris Paul. But if Teague can hold his own, the Wolves can make it interesting.
Changes coming to the Wild?
It’s hard to believe that major changes aren’t coming to the Minnesota Wild in this off-season. What’s not so clear is what those changes will look like or who will be making the call.
Despite finishing with more than 100 points on the season, the Wild never seemed to catch the attention of the Twin Cities sports market this season. And their disappointing, if predictable first-round exit from the playoffs won’t do much to build excitement in the off-season.
With so much of their salary cap going toward injured veterans Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the Wild are somewhat limited by what they can do in the off-season, no matter if it’s Chuck Fletcher or another general manager remaking the roster. And for a team that lacks size, it’s difficult to see either of them giving up on either Nino Niederreiter or Charlie Coyle, no matter how confounding their play.
And while it’s easy to say that this team needs more size, strength and high-end goal-scorers, it’s not like other teams are just waiting to give those type of players away.
If Luke Kunin can overcome his knee injury, his addition, along with the continued development of Nick Seeler and Jordan Greenway give the Wild a much-needed youth movement.
Skidding Twins bounce into the Bronx
Things certainly get no easier for the Minnesota Twins who go from getting swept under the big top in Tampa to a 4-game series against the Yankees, in New York.
Centerfielder Byron Buxton who is recovering from migraine headaches is beginning a rehab assignment in Fort Myers while the Twins bullpen will attempt to do a rehab of their own against one of the most formidable lineups in major league baseball.
One couldn’t help but notice that former Twins Dennard Span and Carlos Gomez did major damage in the Rays 3-game sweep of the Twins, and that Phil Hughes appeared to be no upgrade from Kyle Gibson in making his first start in almost a year.
The best hope hear is that the Twins can hang on until Buxton and Earvin Santana can return to the active lineup because it doesn’t appear that this team has the depth to win consistently without any of their top-line players.