Neil Cornrich Featured by The Ohio State University College of Law

Athletes as clients: Take a look inside the wide world of sports law
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By KELSEY GIVENS

The Ohio State University Law School Magazine | Winter 2016

The glitz. The glamour. The excitement. Brushing elbows with the athletic elite and sharing in a fast-paced, extravagant lifestyle—all while negotiating multi-million dollar contracts.

Perhaps that’s how sports law is portrayed on television and in the movies. But those in the industry today say there is so much more to a career working with athletes than simply reading over their contracts and sharing in their success.

The ultimate agent

“We’re involved in all aspects of their career— contracts, endorsements, and marketing –whatever they need. There is no typical day,” said nationally renowned sports agent and founder of NC Sports Neil Cornrich ’83. “I work with, objectively and quantifiably, the best and brightest in the world at what they do. There are so few positions, and they’re so good—the best in the world. I think it’s difficult for most people to understand.”


Breaking into the industry is challenging. Building trust with the players, creating a name for yourself, and succeeding in a market teeming with a multitude of variables out of both the player and agent’s control, like career-ending injuries, can make it difficult to start a business from the ground up.

Cornrich considers himself lucky. When he decided to become a sports agent, he was able to support himself by working at his father, Sidney Cornrich ’51’s firm in Cleveland as he built his practice. Friendships he started while in law school also helped, particularly that of Larry Romanoff, current director of external affairs for Ohio State.

“Larry’s insights had a profound effect on my understanding of student-athletes and played an integral role in the genesis of my career,” he said. It also helped Cornrich land a top pick from The Ohio State University football program, who went on to have an immensely successful career in the NFL, as his first client.

“I was lucky that Kirk Lowdermilk chose me to represent him. Fortunately things went well from the beginning contractually and he had the right things going for him; he was a tough, bright, durable player—in the sense that he could survive this brutal game—and having a player like that teaches you a lot about the game. He was then nice enough to start recommending me to other players like Jeff Uhlenhake, who was a team captain and All-America at Ohio State. Jeff was the first rookie to start at center in Miami Dolphin history and is currently working for the Ohio State football program as a strength and conditioning coach. One led to another, from Jeff to Joe Staysniak and, that same year, Jeff Davidson, who were both team captains and Academic All-Big Ten,” Cornrich explained.

Although he didn’t picture himself becoming an agent when he first entered law school, Cornrich said he became fascinated by contract work in his first-year course on the subject, taught by Professor Jerome Reichman, as well as classes on federal income taxation and legal problems of financial information with Professor Morgan Shipman. That appreciation for contract execution—which is a large part of what Cornrich does as an agent—as well as a an independent project he completed with Professor Stan Laughlin ’60, which allowed him to study lawyers’ roles within sports, started him on the path to where he is today.

He now represents a number of highly successful professional-level and college-level coaches, general managers, and club presidents. Names like Bill Belichick, Ted Ginn Jr., Montee Ball, Robert Smith, Glen Mason, John Cooper, Luke Fickell, and more recently first-round NFL draft pick and Outland Trophy winner Brandon Scherff, have all called on Cornrich and his team for their expertise.


Through it all, Cornrich said, the most important thing has been to continue working with the client to do things the right way and to do what’s in their best interest.

“I realize every day that the coaches, general managers, and players for whom I work are trying to improve their teams, and that can include their own personal representation. I understand the need to keep improving my own work and earn the respect of my clients on a daily basis. It’s nice that I’ve had good results in the past, but what’s important is continually getting good results for my current clients.”

And that philosophy has proven successful for both Cornrich and his clients. His impressive career was recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the “15 Most Influential Sports Agents,” in 2013. “It’s obviously flattering, but I just feel very fortunate and humbled and lucky,” he said.

Geno Atkins' Advice: Don't Make Marshal Yanda Upset

Bengals DT Geno Atkins says Marshal Yanda is in the top three of offensive linemen he’s faced.

By Ryan Mink
January 27, 2016

Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins is one of the four Pro Bowl captains, meaning he has a special place even among the game’s biggest stars.

But there’s one man that even Atkins seems a little leery of. He wouldn’t go so far as to say he hopes he doesn’t have to face him in Sunday’s annual all-star game, but he’s definitely not going to cross him.

That man is Ravens guard Marshal Yanda.

“Don’t get him upset, I can tell you that,” Atkins said Tuesday at the Pro Bowl’s introductory press conference. “One of my teammates [Domata Peko] got him upset and I felt the brunt of it the next play. It was pretty bad.”

What did Yanda do?

“I’m not going to say,” Atkins said. “It’s embarrassing. He got me pretty good.”

As AFC North foes, Yanda and Atkins have gone to battle twice a year since 2010 (except when Atkins was injured in 2013). In the 10 games over that time, Atkins has registered five sacks and 22 tackles.

Atkins faces a lot of good, tough-minded offensive linemen in the rough-and-tumble AFC North. But he says Yanda stands out from the pack. He puts him in the top three players he’s ever faced.

“When I tell my son or daughter about football, I’ll tell them that was one of the best guards I went up against in the league,” Atkins said.

“He’s got nastiness, he’s physical and he has finesse. He’s strong, but if you try to beat him with a little finesse, he can handle that too because he’s got good feet. He’s got the whole package.”

The other guards joining Yanda at this year’s Pro Bowl are the Steelers’ David DeCastro, Bills’ Richie Incognito, Buccaneers’ Logan Mankins, Cowboys’ Zack Martin and Packers’ Josh Sitton. None of them came close to having as strong a season as Yanda, per Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Yanda was PFF’s top-rated guard for the second straight season, beating out Incognito with an overall rating of plus-43.1 to 35.0. Yanda was rated as the NFL’s third-best offensive lineman, just barely behind Cowboys tackle Tyron Smith and Browns tackle Joe Thomas.

During Wednesday’s Pro Bowl draft, Atkins will find out whether he has to face Yanda once again.

“If he’s on my team or if he’s not, it’s going to be a good matchup,” Atkins said. “I pay him twice a year, so it could go that way, or he could be on my team. That would be a good thing too.”

Ted Ginn finally gets his payback on Cardinals

By Darin Gantt

January 25, 2016

Ted Ginn was good enough in 2013 to earn a chance at a payday, and he chased it all the way to Arizona. But the Cardinals were so unimpressed they cut him a year later.

So when he returned to Carolina, a chance to show his former team he could change a game was something he clearly relished.

“I tried to take ‘me’ out of it, but it meant a lot to me,” Ginn said after helping the Panthers thrash the Cardinals 49-15, via David Scott of the Charlotte Observer.

Ginn might not have been wanted by the Cardinals, who threw just 26 passes his way all year. Since he catches about half what’s thrown his way, that means a mere 14 receptions for 190 yards and no touchdowns. The year before with the Panthers, he caught 36 passes for 566 yards and five touchdowns. But his return has been even better. With Kelvin Benjamin out for the year with a torn ACL, Ginn has stepped up to be the de facto No. 1 receiver in Carolina, with 44 catches for 739 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.

In short, when he’s in Carolina, he’s great. He has 15 receiving touchdowns in 31 games with the Panthers, and 11 touchdowns in 104 games in all other places.

So suffice it to say General Manager Dave Gettleman wanted him back, and Ginn was glad to be wanted.

“I felt like deep down inside that [the Cardinals] thought I couldn’t do it,” Ginn said. “They sent me back out to the wolves. But then [Panthers coach Ron] Rivera, Gettleman, [owner Jerry] Richardson, even Cam [Newton], they stood on the table and said, hey, we want this guy back. All I can do is go out and play as hard as I can.”

He repaid that faith in all three phases of the game Sunday night.

He caught two passes for 52 yards, ran for a 22-yard score (which covered at least 75 yards) and had a 32-yard punt return which he nearly broke for a touchdown. But his most impressive play might have been on defense, preventing a touchdown after Patrick Peterson intercepted a Newton pass.

Ginn was at the goal line, and spotted the not-slow Peterson 10 yards. But he chased him down at the Panthers’ 22, setting up another Carson Palmer interception, and preventing the kind of swing the Cardinals needed.

It was the kind of raw speed moment that made you see why the Dolphins took him ninth overall in the 2007 draft.

But it took getting to Carolina to deliver on that promise.