Comcastrodors, please welcome Rob London to the podcast. Rob left Wall Street and the finance industry to become a now twelve-year veteran talent agent representing athletes within the NFL and several other professional sports organizations. He was also an official candidate to become the executive director of the NFL Players Association this year. Rob shares with us his perspective on fostering talent, the business side of sports, and general advice for professionals finding their way.
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Broadcasting from the Ministry of mindwaves in the kingdom of pod You don’t know what he’s thinking big brother looks like you and your stepson Maximus groves bloody bring Internet people comcastro My name is Maximus Groves allow me to introduce you to NFL Super Agent Rob London. Rob left Wall Street and the finance industry to become a now twelve year veteran talent agent representing athletes within the NFL and several other professional sports organizations. He was also an official candidate to become the executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association this year Rob shares with me his perspective on fostering talent the business side of sports and general advise for professional men finding their way. This is Rob Martin and you’re listening to comp Castro. Your background comes from Wall Street right here. You know finance and eased into sports. Where do you think the egos were more powerful on the Wall Street finance side or more in the sport. This wasn’t my has always been my dream it was just just it’s all for me always it’s all that’s like kind of funny akong is such a difficult thing you know like the show is about six months old but it’s been a very sort of I guess sort of an awakening experience out of you know escaping jobs that you maybe don’t feel for yourself as you go forward into things to connect with them. I think that’s a very wise looking for is that one thing that can sort of say No making that on a daily basis we can only go so you find it you know you go along to it and you. You know you can do it as best you can. But at the same time yet but what is probably no place more fun than me and a fellow just for what. Everything’s about that is at stake. You know I felt that way for eleven years and I’m finding out that you know sports in general is just for me exciting and you know football. Yes So if it was with us four years old so yes that’s my first love. But now that specter of sports in general baseball bat well got those things and intrigued me more and more over the last year after so and that is something that they look into that kind of way into it and make strides into those areas as well. So well I don’t know. Well the last year and a half is shown a really very dramatic. Off field presence from several players in the organization of the N.F.L. It feels like there’s a bigger game going on just outside of it. I know Roger Goodell gets a lot of criticism for his approach to the public monsters they react to everything. Yeah you know there is you know that this is a football hero and just as important as it is on the field I think because there’s some steps that players make I can keep them on field and win this you know certainly some things that from a team standpoint operationally acting you know and to them or hamstring them you know see that issue with the Patriots losing Jack takes the flicky situation so you know and Tom Brady being in being. You know set out for the four games. Yeah so you know it you know those transactions are huge happenings off the field but you know it’s it’s this is folk in the cell business on the left and I think it’s as important as the Games itself because they they control they drive the outcomes of those games. Those issues off the Philistines you know and that’s specifically I have a close circle of friends who are kind of convinced that everyone thinks that’s a much more dramatic gaming of the system from Bill Belichick So if they only find one little thing they’re going to go really hard at it. Right that’s what I mean when you when you’re the best. Everyone wants your place everyone wants your spot and so everyone will try every every little they’ll kick at every little issue that you have to bring you down a peg so that they can you know take your spot at that number one level and you know it it’s hard to retain you know number one and look at look at cost and and Tiger Woods and and Mary McEvoy you know Tiger is at is right and it seems like you know it’s you know a couple fights and to get back to where he once was but I think now you’ve got the light were remap were just a media net sweet spot a pun intended he’s in the sweet spot that enables him to say week in and week out do some great things. OK here and there but his game is so much more different than Tiger Woods. I don’t think it’s built on dominance necessarily but it’s built on just competence. And so you know as one light goes out from a superstar we see another one that night and so you know this is just beautiful. When you see those things happen in real life. Most of the most immaterial. I read about online and describes very thoroughly as your commitment to essentially character and finding players young before they finally step into a professional setting. Let me phrase this as a question. So is this a new vision of superstardom to the future. You know just trying to create good solid values going forward I think every player that’s a great player and can be one of those those transcendent type players when they play the game as they come in they all have a brand that needs to be developed and they all have a brand that needs to be built. You know put forth in the public public eye and so you know when I look at players and their skill set to me it’s more it’s more than just in the play or play football or and you know player play basketball or you know to you know jump real high or catch the ball. It’s about that character you know these these companies nowadays that are you know pouring you know millions if not a billion dollars into advertising and you know marketing activations they want a face and then one of the least that can carry their product above and beyond their editors and so I like the Finals players that have the skill set to play at a very high level but also that has the character off the field to carry a brand you know as we develop their own brand. You know other Popa Prince will want to partner with that with that player. So those are some good things I think I’ve been able to do over the last decade or so in terms of finding players. Can you know speak well on camera and have a presence on on camera as well as in you know audio video interview just so you know I don’t think it’s look at all I think it’s you know me having spoken to players in and you know the exact talent that I think can drive in the league and understanding where their personalities are and where we can take them. I think there’s always been a been a situation where we’ve done that in a really great great way. So starting this business of variance and when you think the moment was where you make the first aggressive step into a new career path when you kind of figure out let’s just say when does the excitement become more than the doubt or was it a very long fight between them. You know that’s a good question. Twelve years ago I think with my background in playing sports since I was a young guy and then going to college on this on the football scholarship I think that allowed me to always have faith and always has drive and determination from with it. So even through going through a transition into sports you know that there was never any doubt. I mean even to the point where you know I guess Ill new sports company starting up takes years to develop a following to sign clients Well the first year out. We were fortunate enough to sign seven football players. So I’ve always expected you know success at any turn. From myself and anyone I do with I always expect a high level of work at least expect a high level character and I always expect a high level of success from everyone about deal with. That’s perfect because I just imagine it like coming from such a high let’s say very aggressive business place like and finance. That’s right yeah probably helps a lot too. If it was me I would be having like boyhood dreams of football like you can be out every moment and like losing my wrist you know that you know early on you know those moments of you know the first time out not really knowing what to expect what to do but having to learn a lot of that stuff on the fly. It didn’t give me any room for four you know London the football fan and it just it goes so fast and you know I tell people that you know a year in the football business is like dog years and during difficult life because so much stuff goes on ya give you an example about stuff going just going on in your life and then just stuff going on generally in your business on the day they says you know this year went through you know the whirlwind you know ready you know running for or being nominated for the N.F.L. Players Association executive director elections you know back in March you know that was something that was you know a huge huge undertaking and when you talk about emotion there’s a lot of emotion that goes into something like that certainly a lot of brain power that has to go into some something like that because when it comes. Knowing policy and knowing how the union works and how it works in our mini wistfully. Those things are at the highest levels of this this day and I think that’s what’s true. And so to be considered amongst the best and brightest in regard to doing something like that you know that’s that’s a huge just roller coaster ride. But I’ll never change anything. Everything happens for a reason you’re not certainly enjoyed that process and then you go you know into the off season. And in transitioning into you know different parts of the sports business obviously that fun with it the whole way. It seems like if someone is that’s happening and I can always keep moving forward. Exactly and that’s the goal. I think everyone in either you know high level finance in general business where you’ve been the sports business I think we all strive for the best for our organizations we all strive to be the best in ours you know respect that spaces and that’s something that I’ve always you know had in the back of my mind that if I’m going to do something I’m going to do it at the highest level and I’m going to do it with the most integrity in the most class. Do you suspect that by living through dog your actual life expectancy is ticking down. Not at all. Every day every day I you know talk about sports and transact you know sports situations and and get players and do a list do it with a smile because you know this is a dream it’s a dream to be involved in sport. Yet some people that they have a job but it’s not a feeling to them and sports to me is something that’s very fulfilling. I get a chance to you know play golf and to take some parts of the summer and I have to myself but you know to me it’s a journey. When you suggested some topics conversation you had a few other unstrung ones you mention off season travel do you have some favorite destinations. Yeah I love to travel in the off season but just traveling get there and you know steadiness for a week or so and kind and out Dick said a Puerto Rico Dominican Republic. I can’t wait until you open up to you. So you know Scotch and cigars like you know breakfast cereal for me. I kid you not. When we first started the show we named after Fidel Castro Every session was recorded with a small small glass of scotch and we were handing cigars and at the end of every episode. Oh that’s great that’s lovely that I can think it was the way to start or in the show. So as we saw as we moved to a proper studio we’ll just solidify that as the process. There you go there you go. Everybody comes in to do it has sat and they leave with a office roll cigar where we’ve been living dead on that’s a label made with Comcast roll over on it will be perfect a go go. It has gotten us in a little bit of trouble. You know when a little bit of disagreement becomes a bigger one on the Sara Lee from maybe somebody being able to relax or like with the. Well you know it’s always you always have people that like the over step but I think sometimes there’s you know that controversy sells. Sometimes it’s cool to be a little controversial conflicts the core of every story right. Yeah exactly. And they’re just just like that book at the New got out about the player’s name. But he’s a Christian and he’s you know what Watson and the book kind of suggest that he doesn’t live in the life like he says he does. Christian but you know no one would buy the book if it was still that story about what was almost he was running for president or something. Exactly you know controversy sells. Yeah well that’s kind of weird to me that subject because golf players strike me as the most private superstars of the sports arena. And when that’s a Tiger Woods or Bubba Watson I like whenever anyone seems to step out of what like a normal behavior path it’s not as if they were living largely publicly anyway right. Yeah you know it’s golf is not you know terribly exciting to the naked eye you know unless you are you know I kind of sort of go off with you if you’re a player you understand the nuances of what’s going on but you know by and large it’s not a very you know exciting sport. So you know I think it adds you know to the book sales when you can write down that’s that’s playing golf and trying to you know even though you never had a one on one interview with a political clear you can break down is personality in his lifestyle. I don’t know how you do that but OK. But the book’s good. It was on the golf channel this morning a full half hour on the books so they used to say That guy never got an interview with Bubba Watson. So a lot of books like your mind’s eye were like Saturday Night Live sketch of like Bob Ross having a personal freak out right. Like the really quiet polite guy some like an explosive in their lives or something. Yeah. It’s it’s interesting to see you know go off as a sport and almost makes you feel like it seems like the best course of finding like inner peace or a competitive capitalist western culture. Right. You know that’s that’s one way to put it another way to put it into is is so it’s past Monday I played it and the charity turned it over and was on the eleventh hole. It was very hot outside and we had you know just just made the turn on eleven par three and my partner and myself we we topped the ball off the tee. I’m not normally when it comes to slam in clubs or anything like that I kinda laugh it off but this one part three just I was really looking forward to pouring or you know even parodying the hole and I topped the ball and I literally took my club and felt like I was the baseball player back in the day that that that used to take Andrew. Mark McGuire I literally felt like Mark McGwire I slammed my seven iron into the grass and sand at the tee box and the whole head into the ground. The first time I’d ever done that probably the last. No way. It was frustrating and so you know you can find it in the piece somewhere on the court let’s think you know it’s not only does it give it my goodness it doesn’t give it so you have to take it that you have to the IP and you have to take it and it’s really it’s a challenge I think it’s for me. It calms me because it’s my mind off of stressful things and but the game itself and so you know technically difficult. Well it’s like if you’re angry you might throw harder punch but you can’t swing a better club by being angry. Exactly you have to be just the opposite. Yeah but you know as a commercial long lost on those shows of golf or holding up a little bird in his head. Yeah but you know cradle it you can’t squeeze the club if you know that when you have set in your playing. That’s what happens but it’s a great well I love it. You would also mentioned some men’s fashion grooming tips. Yeah I think every man needs to have a you know someone that knows fashion or you know best friend knows that the current styles and where would that the wear based on its size. I think friends should do each other that solid and make sure that their you know their friends are not wearing jeans that are ill fitting or you know plaid shirts that was out ten years ago you would have some friends that can kind of protection from spending so you know I I I just fortunate enough to have friends that every time we go out bodies dressed so nice so I’m always having to you know reinvent my Yeah my casual wear for the evening or you can go out. Actually you know I just came from a wedding last week. In fact Maurice Jones drew his younger sister had gotten married in Atlanta and spent the weekend there and wore beautiful gray Vera Wang tuxedo and and it was it was stunning. It was a walk in the place of the bow tie and I didn’t want to take detract from the bride and groom but you know just a very nice nice suit it was custom fitted and it seemed like everyone looked at that both sides. And so you know fashion is you have to be well appointed and not overly stated to actually make a great state or not and so I think I could tell you it’s a second skin of the liaison. Yeah and that’s to mention the quality of of war you know when you get a nice high quality war or cashmere even you know it lays on your person just just the right way and there when it’s when it’s clearly the right way it’s shows like in million books and that shows in your personality and your attitude as you well say to a room. People kind of see that you know wow this guy’s confident. Why not look at it so they look at issues I love that it’s good to be able to do things like that. I look forward to when it’s more ubiquitous I like the business sense because I get to see too many hipster events or something when you are in a suit to that you’re totally It almost looks insecure from the over dress from the side of it but I think that’s a very different sort of place where we were at the time you know. You know so the town valley and you know the when we had students Yeah you know it’s not about that it’s not. About that the strict you know corporate seal. It’s about you know wearing what feels good and so this is a couple companies that that stepped out. That that’s created some so close that they from a look standpoint from Instead it’s a look traditional but the seal is very very relaxed almost you know pajama excluding clothes but they look the part I did I did see a company out of San Francisco was making precisely that like this couple companies it gets to an end and I think it’s great because now you have the guys that have the pet sitting students you know and I think that contributes to someone’s anger in the office when you know there was a little too tight couple too many police last year. Any research that has it stretch a little bit so I think that it should be to some people being a little more after you’re in the office. I’ll tell you grown up playing defense of lime I always had like a mac twice as thick as what was expected by Sir Taylor measurement makers right and so if I just boil down to every time there’s an occasion to wear a good shirt like school or college or something it was just the most frustrating experience. Took a long time to properly made sure dismayed to realize man this isn’t this isn’t bad this is obvious the first time in a long time ago first time I ever I ever wore a custom shirt it just felt so much different than the regular stuff that you get off the rack and I was out myself that I will always do something that will allow me to purchase Custom Service felt so good in the neck with that precise so. I then and Drake you know in the size of the search it looks like your Alf I know that the size of the search. I always doubt that know what I wish or it’s like this. So I have to use that provides on the on that level no matter how much money to downscale the company or your involvement always make sure there’s enough for the right wardrobe. Gotta have budget for the Woodrow gotta have budget for the what you now and you know that just was jokes. I think sometimes some and take for granted your grooming kits. You know you know nothing says class like a well a well shined shoes. You know nothing says class like a you know freshly sheaf face. You know whether you will go to you when that moustache or not should always certainly be coomed up I mean I do know that Robert Downey Jr is a personal barber just for his goatee. And he has some of the ones you have some pretty good go through everyone. Yeah you know that ask the Iron Man. Oh yeah but well that wasn’t there was a missing point thing where you are and what you need to maintain him like. Has it been a challenge to be so aggressively pursuing the top levels of things and also maintaining a life at home at the same time I don’t fortunate you know being in this industry. In sports and she for twelve years topless years now it’s it’s afforded me the opportunity to take up and sort out when I want to at this point and and when you have a name or you have a brand that’s you know mature to the point. Or you know individuals have heard about us and they want to have conversations with you about potential business I think that that enables me to take a step or two back to be able to not travel as much to be able to spend more time with my family and the children and I think that’s very important. You know we always want to strike a balance between you know your personal life or family life and work but oftentimes it’s never ballots. It’s it’s a lot of times it’s one way or the other. And usually you know one way is usually you know your profession. It’s in fact a professional not just a job. It’s you go to is it’s your heavy time spending and you know whether it’s on the road because you travel so much or just being in the office maybe you’re a lawyer and you know you have your billable hours need to be at a certain level and so that certainly will take away from your family business life. Matthew I mean you go on appliances your whole life for the next star in the company from scratch decks but that’s a huge undertaking in and of itself and so when you when you are an entrepreneur there is no turnoffs which you know that that phone stays on all night because you never know when you get it going to get an international call at two o’clock in the morning when someone in another country is waking up in the sure thing on their mind you need to be able to take that call so you know I’m standing those things but I think at the core if you work and enough to be able to dial it back I thought been able to do the past couple of years it’s not like it’s all about where the motivation comes from because you imagine that like the drive to the top not not for everybody is going to be sort of like a balanced you know you know self. Conscious player might be like proven to the world or something inside that hurts or something and a lot of pieces just kind of fall apart along the way I think it’s going to go on that process. It’s definitely a good cylinder that Jack to have mastered the process or at least proficient at the process I’ll see that not massive massive profit and we’re you know we’re getting getting written about involved and so on and all the huge you know Time magazine in it all those things and maybe I think and post. And so now it certainly is to have some proficiency in being able to strike a balance and still be successful as you want to be. Earlier mentioned Mark McGuire and his the Torrijos for having asterisks next to his name in the record books right. How are the pressures for players to find you know edges like that be on steroids or something else. You know I’ve I’ve never been around a player that wanted to gain an edge by that means and I think that’s I think that’s by design. I think that’s because players know who they can get those things by or they know who will guide them in the right way in terms of you know not tolerating those types of things and so I’ve been fortunate that I just have the respect of players that you know they be straight to the point where that’s not something that’s even brought up and most of the conversations it’s about being the best that we can be. It’s it’s about hey you know what if we’re going to play this game. Try to play this game at all the same level. Let’s try to to play this game because you know we weren’t the first drafted player overall And so we have to prove to people that we are as good as that first draft player overall if you look back at you know ten years. Now years ago wants that you look back at that six draft when you know Reggie Bush Bill White the engine the Williams And you know you see Les’s Maurice Jones Drew had come out and Maurice was drafted you know in the second round and yet five running that go in front of them. And Reggie Bush was the first and you look at how they all started and you look at you know who’s had a great run of things and Maurice arguably is the best. But he back from that group. You know he’s you know a player that you know certainly with you know throughout his career but it’s in my opinion he’s the best running back in that group certainly from a production standpoint you know he’s done some things that you know players that were drafted in the first round for him you know hadn’t been able to do and a lot of them are still half of them are still playing now you know D’Angelo and Reggie and and one other clay but those guys just haven’t they haven’t had the three that Maurice you know and I think it’s attributed to the players’ focus coupled with the BY see he gets from his business team and he’s gotten where he was playing from his business team and so I like to think that I impacted that somewhat as he kind of transition through his career in elite that perspective for any individual or professional player. Like how big is the team keeping keeping that focusing on the team off the field or the team on the field. Well of course it’s the business team I mean of course. Well eleven players at a time often Stevens but you know I think the business team is crucial. And at every turn of a player’s career because you know they don’t understand these players don’t understand the game the business of football and and know should they really be concerned with the game of football from a business perspective on a high a very high level because those are some very pointed issues that they have to that that business people have to deal with you that’s why you have to be as good as Rob London to be able to pull that off a little thing as good as the best N.F.L. player on the field in the same time. No one can do it. No we can do both. It’s it’s it’s one or the other. And so you have to you know you want to be Superman or the rabbit. Now imagine some intellects with a team about that’s what would that would be about it. Yeah yeah it’s so hard and so and the environment the garment of sports it changes so rapidly that athletes really keep up. I mean the business people have a hard time keeping up with the changes in the industries year over year and certainly the players as they get older and erotically slower they shouldn’t be forced to have to deal with those things but they should have and they should understand. You know general business underpinnings industry and that’s what I you know tell players you don’t have to understand you know the crossing of the teams or the dotting the I’s. But you know if you you know are you know willing to learn and you’re interested in these types of things you know I’ll certainly you know teaching the A.B.C.’s of the industry. I’m on a small scale so that you at least can speak the language. This is been a really great conversation. I really appreciate you spending time talking with us. Well with me this is a great very insightful. You know conversation is always good to talk about sports and I think the surrounding environments of that industry and some of the the drivers that make up the off the field issues a situation that then she told us is in awesome words for young athletes with a dream trying to go for it. Always always words of encouragement to younger people who are endeavoring to be the best that they can be in what they’re doing. I don’t I don’t mind I don’t care what sport it is or maybe it’s just in academics where a young person wants to excel. But the underlying principle of excelling is to make sure that if you study if you’re a player you have to study the game and you have to study yourself as well because if you know the deficiencies from a player’s standpoint or even if you’re a student and if you know where your decisions are in terms of learning you can be ready for what’s around the corner. You can you can you ready yourself and prepare yourself for things that are not yet seen if you know what your deficiencies are so studying the content studying your position for basketball baseball if you’re a student and your academic job it’s studying yourself and then making sure that you understand the subject matter. That will always get a young person always almost as if excellence is its own reward right. Oh my goodness. He said this is awesome. All right that’s a great point to end on thank you so much again. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for listening to comcastro. If you enjoyed this please subscribe rate and review on iTunes or stitcher or wherever else you heard this from hello to all of them. It really means the world to us. Also visit dot comcastro dot com and register for our newsletter to stay on top of all our exciting guests and developments. It’s happening Internet and it’s all thanks to you. Viva comcastro and Viva to you all.
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