KEVIN KLEPS
July 28, 2019 04:00 AM
Defensive end Trey Flowers – shown with agent Neil Cornrich
after the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Atlanta
Falcons in 2017 – signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the
Detroit Lions in March.
Leaving
the Cleveland Browns as a free agent after the 2012 season was very difficult
for Phil Dawson.The kicker, as beloved as anyone from his position group could be
in an NFL city, had spent his first 14 seasons with the Browns. Dawson remains
the second-leading scorer in the 70-season history of the franchise.
If Dawson was looking for a pick-me-up at the time, he wouldn't
have reached out to his agent, Beachwood-based Neil Cornrich.
"What separates Neil is he just tells the truth," Dawson
said. "He reps general managers, coaches and players. He has a
comprehensive understanding of all sides of a negotiation. His insight, his
counsel, just the way he communicates how things are gonna go, what the other
side will come at you with — all of that is spot on.
"You might not always enjoy that," the 2012 Pro Bowl
selection added, "and some agents might try to polish that up. But Neil
just tells you how it is, and it's your job as an athlete to make a
decision."
Neil Cornrich, Bill Belichick’s longtime agent, said he knew the
coach was “so special” soon after meeting
Belichick during the coach’s time with the Browns.
Best
of the best
Cornrich,
because he's represented powerful figures from all sides of the negotiating
table (from players to assistant coaches to head coaches and general managers),
has one of the most diverse client sets in the league.
He has
repped Bill Belichick throughout the coach's historic run with the New England
Patriots. He also represents several Patriots players, including running back
Rex Burkhead, who is entering the second season of a three-year, $9.75 million
deal.
Last March,
one of Cornrich's star clients, defensive end Trey Flowers, left the Patriots
to sign a five-year, $90 million deal with the Detroit Lions, who are coached
by Matt Patricia, a Belichick protégé. Flowers' deal includes $56 million in
guarantees, and the $90 million total is the fourth-best among all
players at his position.
By letting
Flowers walk, the Patriots — in a move that's become a Belichick staple —
likely will get a third-round compensatory draft pick next spring.
"It's his model," Cornrich said of the coach he first
met in the 1990s, when the agent was representing former Browns players Tom
Tupa, Bob Dahl and
Craig Powell, and Belichick was working for Art Modell prior to the Browns'
move to Baltimore.
"I had a profound respect for him from the first time I met
him," Cornrich said of Belichick. "I knew about him. Then, when I met
him, it became clear that he was so special."
Cornrich has since been on the field for all six of the Patriots'
Super Bowl victories — along with their three championship-game losses — under
Belichick.
Cornrich has negotiated book deals and contracts, and has become
close friends with the 67-year-old who, in the agent's opinion, is
"indisputably the greatest coach of all time, regardless of sport."
Quality
references
A 2013
Sports Illustrated story, which ranked Cornrich among the 15 most
influential agents in sports, called the Beachwood High School graduate
"arguably the leading agent of football coaches, both professional and
collegiate."
That group
includes Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, whom Cornrich repped during his playing days with the Patriots and Pittsburgh
Steelers, along with University of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, former University
of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, Youngstown State University coach Bo Pelini and
new University of Akron coach Tom Arth.
Cornrich's coaching practice is strong, but the player side of the
business is larger for a simple reason: There are more of them.
That practice added T.J. Hockenson, a tight end from Iowa who was
selected eighth overall by the Lions in April. The move is straight out of
Cornrich's playbook — one that has proven to be quite successful in the 36
years since he became a certified player agent.
Hockenson played for Ferentz, and he was referred to Cornrich by
Dallas Clark, a former Iowa standout who was a first-round pick by the
Indianapolis Colts in 2003. Clark, a first-team All-Pro selection in 2009, was
the NFL's highest-paid tight end for much of his career.
"My approach has always been fiduciary," Cornrich said.
"People hire me to do what's best for them, not what's best for me. And if
you do that long term, you'll have an opportunity to avoid some of the
difficult situations that can arise in this industry. Good people refer other
good people."
‘Very
humbling' business
Cornrich's third-floor office in the One Chagrin Highlands
building would be a haven for memorabilia collectors. Signed pictures and
jerseys adorn the walls, and the longtime agent has a story for each.
Off the top of his head, he recites Flowers' grade-point average
at the University of Arkansas' Sam M. Walton College of Business. He'll tell
you the names of all of his clients' parents, as well as Riley Reiff's record
as a three-time state champion wrestler in high school. (Reiff, a Minnesota
Vikings offensive lineman, signed a five-year, $58.75 million contract in
2017.)
And he'll gladly tell you about his own parents — the late Rita, a
former teacher, and Sidney, a 90-year-old who went to college at 15 and
finished law school at 21.
"My parents were really self-made people who did
exceptionally well and instilled in me the values of resilience, commitment and
passion," Cornrich said. "I always tried to do something a little bit
different and better. I'm not saying I did, but that was the goal."
The business he's chosen, described by so many agents as brutal,
is "very humbling," Cornrich said.
Cornrich has been approached "often" about selling his
practice, but he's always resisted because he loves what he does — and those
for and with whom he works.
With Flowers and Hockenson, the agent has already had a really
good 2019. But Cornrich knows as well as anyone that can change in a hurry.
"We
don't pitch what we've done for other people," he said. "Every day is
a new day, and every day you need to earn it. Last season is last season."