Lenny P cracking on the Postons

[MTK]

And on KW senior too...

Last year, when Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr. was investigating potential agents to represent his son, he surveyed friends around the league and queried them about who were the most notorious negotiators. And a lot of those contacts told him they hated dealing with brothers Carl and Kevin Poston, infamous in league circles for their scorched earth tactics. The elder Winslow surmised that having such tough guys at the bargaining table wasn't an altogether bad thing, and so the Postons were retained. And, at least in terms of the potential value of the contract they negotiated for Kellen Winslow II, they hammered out a whopper of a deal.

Fast forward a year, of course, with the younger Winslow facing season-ending knee surgery and a future that, even in the best-case scenario would be deemed uncertain, and the contract doesn't look nearly as good. Seems the Postons didn't account for the possibility that "The Soldier," or "The Warrior," or "The Chosen One" – choose the nickname you most like – might actually get hurt at some point, and lose the ability to collect much of the money in the deal. Yep, these are the same Postons who acknowledged they failed to carefully read the contract extension Washington Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington signed a couple years ago. The contract that Arrington claims is missing $6.5 million. There's a moral here, we think. Something like, pick the best agent, not the most reviled. It's one that the elder Winslow had to learn the hard way.

[mooby]

i don't think anyone likes the postons. it sucks that lavar has them as their agents. i feel sorry for lavar in this situation for choosing them to be his agent's. i hope he realizes that if they negotiate any more contract extensions for him, they are likely gonna be like the one he signed. that's why he should fire them.

[dirtbag2112]

There's another big problem in the NFL. Aside from these lawyer-like agents, it's the fact that unproven college players are getting enormous contracts without ever playing a down in the pros. Noone despite thier name is a sure fire thing. I personally think regardless if your a top ten pick or not you should get a minimal contract with playing time incentives. anyone agree??

[SmootSmack]

I don't want to unnecessarily bring race into this, but how much of a factor do you guys think that the fact the Postons are African-Americans, played into Winslow's decision to select them as his son's agents?

The only reason I bring this up is that wasn't there some sort of situation when KW II wanted to go to U. of Washington and his dad said no go to Michigan State and they compromised and "settled" for Miami. And the point of contention, if I recall correctly, was that Winslow (the dad) felt there weren't enough African-Americans in a position of power at Washington and had told his son something like "if you don't see people in power that look like you that's a problem"

Like I said, I don't want to turn this into a racial thread. And I'll be sure to lock immediately if it gets out of hand. I'm just wondering if that wasn't a big deciding factor for Winslow, and perhaps for others.

[dblanch66]

Sure race had a lot to do with the decision. And quite frankly, I see KW senior's point a little. But if anyone is dumb enough to make an important career choice squarely on race, then they deserve whatever residual effects occur. And yes, there should be a rookie minimum in the nfl. Its like me going to a advertising agency and having them pay me 3 years in advance before I've even devised one campaign for them. Just dumb.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I know for a fact that the Postons' race was a factor in K2 going to them. Kellen Winslow's father thinks it is important to try to help other black professionals. In addition to that, the Postons are two of the biggest agents in the NFL - only Rosenhaus and Condon are bigger names. As has been noted above, the Postons are also known for fighting hard for their clients and that has got to appeal to a lot of plauers. So, while race may have been a factor, I don't think it was THE deciding factor.

[CRT3]

Read this article in the Plain Dealer the other day. Great stroy and gives you some insight as to why they picked the Postons.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plai...291.xml&coll=2

[SmootSmack]

Nice article, CRT3. Thanks.

[monk81]

I think it was so not much race as $$$$$ .................... as the movie said,
"FOLLOW THE MONEY"..................