NFL and NCAA Need To Do More About Shady Agents

Dolla. Dolla. Bills y'all.

Long known as the root of all evil, money has played a, nay, the central role in the recent investigations the NCAA has conducted on a handful of its institutions regarding their football programs. And where is this money coming from?

Agents.

Thanks to archaic NCAA laws pertaining to the type and amount of contact agents can have with student-athletes, most conversations start in the gray area before meandering into the murky depths of text messages, gifts given, and even invitations to exclusive South Beach parties.

The latter of these has been the cause of the most recent slew of NCAA investigations. Thanks to several calamitous tweets from North Carolina senior defensive tackle Marvin Austin, NCAA officials became aware of a night on the town in Miami attended by several current football players, all still amateurs.

The fact that these players were enjoying bottle service at a club on South Beach was of no concern to the NCAA. The real concern for NCAA investigators is how they got there, where they were staying, who paid for it all, etc. While investigations stemming from this party are still underway at North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, it has become clear that something needs to be done to better define the types of communication that is allowed between agents and athletes.

Given the relative obscurity of several football leagues that have either failed or are barely hanging on, NCAA football is the de facto "minor leagues" for the NFL. Therefore, when a college player has NFL potential written all over him, agents salivate at having that player's name written all over a contract with their agency. Hence the jumping of the gun that has caused these investigations.

Currently, agents are allowed minimal contact with athletes after a certain date of the year after the season ends. While we'd like to think that agents follow this rule blindly, they do not. And since players are not always keen to these rules, they can find themselves breaking rules with no intent to do so.

This is where the NCAA needs to step in.

Student-athletes need to be educated much, much more in depth on the level of communication they are allowed to have with agents. Also, they need to be aware of the ramifications of breaking the rules, ranging from a player being suspended for a short period of time to the entire program being sanctioned for several years.

The players themselves are the responsibility of the NCAA and their member institutions, and by implementing stricter, more transparent guidelines regarding athlete-agent relationships, the NCAA will be able to reestablish the integrity of its teams and players.

Meanwhile, the agents themselves must be addressed.

This is where the NFL needs to step in.

Roger Goodell, who has been seen handing down rather draconian punishments to NFLers since becoming commissioner in 2006, needs to crack down on the agents who represent each and every one of the players he oversees.

Agents should be held accountable by the NFL to follow the rules set in place. Breaking these rules should not result in a mere slap on the wrist, as these guys are wearing Armani suits with stiff cuffs and Rolex watches that cause these slaps to go almost unnoticed.

Let's pretend that from these investigations, it becomes apparent that a certain agent was trying to get a huge advantage over his peers by treating future Sunday players to a luxurious night out in an expensive city.

Suspend his agent's license. For a full season. Think he'll be booking rooms at the Ritz-Carlton for Johnny McRunningback from the University of Champions anymore? Do you think any agents will be?

Don't stop there, Roger. Second-time offenders? Two years' suspension. Third-time? Take a cue from MLB umpire Tim McCarver, wind-up with all your might, and holler "You're out!"

Not until both the NCAA and NFL earnestly and cooperatively crack down on these shady dealings can fans of college and pro teams alike rest assured knowing that their team's season will not be laid to waste by an agent trying to poach elite talent at a time when it is illegal.