Sept. 3-9

Last night’s Bills win over the Rams was celebrated across the football landscape (perhaps outside Los Angeles), not just because it heralded the arrival of the 2022 season, but because it ended the weeks of lead-in. At last, football counted. It was official. Training camp was over and 18 weeks of action await.

However, for a certain segment of the population – those whose NFL dreams ended last week at cutdowns – the end of training camp means something else entirely. For those people, we have good news: there are four more training camps scheduled to be run by former NFL personnel, all in Dallas, and all of them performed (virtually) before every one of the 32 NFL teams. 

If you’re an NFL agent whose client got cut last week, here are a few reasons you should consider sending him to Dallas, where the NFL Alumni Academy has relocated for the ’22 season.

No pay unless you make it: Your client gets accommodations, food, and instruction from the best in the business for a three-week period depending on which session he joins (there are four, with the last one ending at Christmas) for free – unless he’s called up to an NFL practice squad or 53-man roster. If he does, there’s a sliding reimbursement cost that’s prorated over the course of his time with a team. He doesn’t pay if he’s not in the league. Need more details on the financials? NFL Alumni Academy Executive Director Dean Dalton will provide them Tuesday. More on that later. 

Get better while you get seen: Every morning practice session is filmed and streamed live to NFL teams. That means that your offensive tackle who needs to improve his footwork, your edge rusher who needs to get more “bendy,” or your defensive back who needs to learn how to use the sideline better will have an audience with 32 pro departments while he works and improves before scouts’ eyes. The secure web portal gives all NFL teams 24/7 access to evaluate the daily NFL Alumni academy practice video. This gives teams access to valuable information and the ability to witness the improvement of academy-coached players. Every team is able to update its free agent list from team headquarters. 

Instructors par excellence: The team’s Performance Director is Chip Smith of Atlanta-based Chip Smith Performance Systems. He’s got more skins on the wall than most trainers put together. The offensive line is coached by a Hall of Famer, Anthony Munoz, and a former NFL head coach, Mike Tice. The pass rush coach is Chuck Smith, an NFL veteran and respected defensive line instructor. Defensive line players will also learn from NFL veteran coaches Jay Hayes and Paul Spicer as well as former Cowboys DT Russell Maryland. Ted Cottrell, a four-time NFL defensive coordinator, and Lofa Tatupu are around to coach the linebackers. Dean Dalton, Chris Dishman, Antonio Banks, Moe Williams and Larry Kirksey are other coaches who have at least a decade in the NFL, and several more have major college or NFL coaching (and/or playing) experience. Both position technique and football IQ are emphasized in the daily teaching and mentoring, giving the NFL Alumni Academy team a chance to erase the deficiencies that kept your client off an NFL roster.

Bottom line, your client can go home and train on his own, hoping the team that told him he’s “next on their list” is true to its word, or he can go to camp in a warm climate, gain (or lose) the weight he needs to be at optimal health, receive instruction from NFL-grade instructors, train alongside top-flight competition and be seen daily by all 32 NFL teams – all while paying nothing unless and until he receives a PS invite or 53-man contract. The player’s only cost is transportation to the Lone Star State.

Still got questions? No problem. ITL’s Neil Stratton will host a Zoom session Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET with Dalton and NFL Alumni Academy Director of Player Personnel Jeff Robinson, and all are welcome. Please join us! Here’s the Zoom link. Can’t wait? Reach Dean directly at dean@nflalumni.academy or Jeff at JR@nflalumni.academy.

Here’s a look at what else we saw, heard, read and said about the business of college and pro football this week.

The results are (finally) in: Today, the NFLPA sent results from July’s exam to test-takers, ending weeks of suspense and either saving (or ruining) the weekend for hundreds of aspiring agents. The results are mixed, though given the abundant technical issues experienced by so many, it’s no surprise not everyone got the score they sought. Some who got bad news expressed frustration and shock, seeking options on how they might appeal the decision. Others admitted the negative results didn’t surprise them. On the other hand, feedback from those who passed was mixed, with some joyous and relieved and others simply ready to get to work. For them, the next hurdle is completing the $2500 to cover insurance and registration fees. If you didn’t get the results you sought, understand that we aren’t leaving you behind. Naturally, your materials will still be good next year if you’re due for a second try, and our instructional Zoom sessions will resume in February. 

To everyone who used our exam prep materials – thank you! July has become one of our busiest months thanks to the hundreds of people we serve during the weeks and months leading up to the test. It is our pleasure to help people achieve their dreams of representing NFL players (and our distinct displeasure when we hear they came up short).

If you missed out for a second time already, we’re working on a plan for name, image and likeness (NIL) representation so you won’t have to miss out on the fun and fulfillment of the game. We aren’t going anywhere, and we hope you aren’t either. Got questions? Even if you didn’t use our prep materials, we want to hear from you. As always, it’s our goal to see everyone succeed in football, and that won’t ever change. Respond to this email or contact us here.

Catching Up: Mel Bratton, 57, has made a name in many areas of football. One of those was scouting; he spent five years in evaluation with the Redskins and Falcons in the late 90s and early ‘00s. We caught up with him this week.

·      Where are you living and what are you doing now? “I’m actually in Atlanta, Ga., and presently I’m an NFLPA-certified agent and also NBA-certified agent as well. That’s my main day to day is the recruitment of these professional players.” 
·      Do you miss the job? What do you miss most? “I miss the camaraderie with the fellows. I’m a foodie, No. 1, and if you want to know where all the best restaurants in the country are, call a scout. They will tell you every pothole dive. We (scouts) should have our own show and they could follow us around, because our fat (butts) know. I miss that and the camaraderie. We used to meet up on the road and follow each other to the different schools. It’s a brotherhood, and I met a lot of good people. My first year, I had the Northwest, and I lived in Seattle. I stayed with (Seahawks great) Cortez Kennedy. I had the whole area, the Pac-10 and all the Northwest. But it was a great experience for me to see all the Northwest and Nevada and all that’s up there.” 
·      Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues? “Yes. The ‘U’ family is very strong. I did a podcast with (former Hurricanes) Santana Moss, Edgerrin James, Brett Romberg, OJ Anderson and Chuck Foreman. OJ is going into the Giants’ Ring of Honor and I’m planning on being there. . . . As far as scouts, from (the Falcons), a lot of the older guys are retired that brought me under their wing. What they taught me is, ‘don’t do it the way we do it. Do it the way that works for you.’ They didn’t want me to follow the trends. There are a lot of guys (in the league now) I’ve hired and helped get in. (Colts Senior Personnel Executive) Morocco Brown was my intern, and I (helped with) his three moves (to different teams). I’ve helped (Commanders GM) Martin Mayhew, and (Vikings Senior Personnel Executive) Jamaal Stephenson at Minnesota. He was an intern in Washington, and he did the salary cap for the Redskins. He had graduated from Cornell, and I pulled Jamaal into my office and I said, I said, ‘look, give me scouting reports on five Ivy League schools,’ and he did that, and that gave him the berth (in scouting). I also helped (University of Miami executive) Alonzo Highsmith get in with scouting when he first went in to meet with (former Packers GM) Ron Wolf. I sat him down and showed him the points to look at for as a socut. I tell young guys in the scouting world, ‘describe a player as if you’re talking to a blind man.’ The words ‘decent,’ ‘OK’ and ‘good,’ don’t write that in the report. Tell me why he’s good, why he has decent feet, why he’s fast. I had to force myself to write those things down. You have to elaborate and be more detailed. That’s how you have to evaluate.” 
·      Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)? “Yes, I go to all three. I like to watch the high school kids, and I have close friends with kids in high school who ask me to evaluate them. I have high school coaches who want to send guys to the college level. I don’t like going to college games. I like going in the middle of the week to talk to players. I like to give them the script, tell them the way you carry yourself, to be first on field and last to leave. Just those little pointers to show them you’re a gym rat, that you’re over there watching film instead of playing Xbox. I go to pro games to see my guys, too.”
·      Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game? “You know, being in the profession I’m in, if I don’t sign a kid that I recruit, I still always cheer for those kids. I never get mad at them. Sometimes they make decisions for the wrong reasons. One that I didn’t get was (49ers WO) Deebo (Samuel), and I saw the RB/WR potential. I still pull for guys like that because it makes me feel good, too, that I identified those talents. It makes me feel good because I was right about what I saw.” 

Review the latest from other former NFL scouts and executives by accessing our Catching Up archive here. Want to hear from a former scout, or know someone who may be interested in being interviewed? Let us know.

Remembering Kevin McCabe: On Saturday, the scouting community lost one of its veterans in Vikings West Coast scout Kevin McCabe, who succumbed to leukemia after a lengthy battle. We’ve rarely seen such an outpouring of respect in our conversations with agents and scouts as well as comments, likes and retweets via Twitter. Clearly, he was a man who left his mark. His friends discussed some of his special qualities in Thursday’s post on our blog, Succeed in Football. Read it here. 

Agent Changes: This week, we rolled out the transitions in representation we found from July to August. We counted 20, a bit more than usual during camp. As always, our results are the produce of NFLPA rolls, so there may be a few more (or less) than what we got, but our results represent the truest number we could come up with. We’ll be back later this month with the changes from August to September. To view every change we’ve identified going back 10 years, click here.

Next week: It’s such a great feeling to have live games again. When we aren’t watching or discussing what we saw, we’ll be writing about it. Stuff like this:

·      We’ll have five more schools in our 2023+ Profile Reports series, including Toledo, Troy, Tulane, Tulsa andUCLA.
·      We’ll have 3-4 more Rep Rumblings reports, mostly detailing front office moves, agency rumblings, all-star developments and more. 
·      We’ll be back with our Succeed in Football blog. Next week, we’ll have a sampling of feedback from those who took this year’s NFL Agent Exam. We’ll have the good, the bad and the ugly from those who passed and those who came up short, with their thoughts on what to do to make the grade. 
·      We’re hoping to have our Draft By the Numbers report done for 2022 by the end of next week.
·      We’ll talk to the former Vikings scout and NFL Alumni Academy official Jeff Robinson in our Catching Up feature as part of the Friday Wrap.
·      Don’t forget about Tuesday’s Zoom session, in which Jeff and Dean will give all the details on what the Academy has to offer in its first year in the Big D. 

ITL is the perfect companion for flipping through the channels between games. See for yourself here.