Lu Ke drove the car, moving slowly through the traffic in San Francisco on Wednesday morning; Lehe, who was sitting in the passenger seat, chatted with Lu Ke intermittently.

The so-called small talk is small talk in the real sense.

The two chatted about Lu Ke's boring training life, especially strength training and weight gain training, which is also what Lu Ke is working on now; The two also talked about Lu Ke's unexpectedly wonderful sparring life, running around in daily study and sparring training, busy and fulfilling; The two talked about Lu Ke's original intention of choosing a journalism major, and even talked about Lu Ke's interesting stories during the internship interview.

The two talked about Lech's bad experience of dealing with the tricky troubles of athletes, but in the midst of a bunch of chaos, it can be funny, and the life of an agent is also colorful; The two also talked about Lech's yearning and longing for retirement, and Lech honestly admitted that he was a little reluctant to work; The two of them talked about the troubles of the early days of Lech's career, and those hilarious moments presented the history of the past.

There's a lot to say about rugby; But more about Lu Ke, about Lech, and about their own life experiences.

Although these contents can be called small talk, from another point of view, they can also be called understanding, and they really understand each other from the position of friends on an equal footing. In your comings and goings, from strange to familiar. It's a necessary process for both the agent and the player, and at the same time a rare start.

Everyone knows that professional sports agents exist, but few really understand what they do.

Agents have a very complex day-to-day job, helping athletes develop markets and handle day-to-day matters, as well as helping athletes negotiate contracts, manage assets, arrange transfers, make investments, and everything else related to sports, as well as personal life.

First of all, the most important job of a broker is undoubtedly contract negotiation and business value management.

As we all know, professional teams are demons who eat people and don't spit out bones, and salary management, contract details, core interests, etc. will never be easily compromised.

A good agent who will set an accurate target and negotiate with the team based on a combination of indicators such as age, data, injuries and trends; At the same time, make full use of other players with a similar level to the agent as a comparison, and within a reasonable space, to obtain a high-priced contract for your own player.

But a bad agent can ask for a lot of money, make wrong judgments and decisions, and the most terrible thing can be to completely ruin the career prospects of a potential rookie.

In addition, top agents are also extremely important to the player's career planning, they will arrange according to the style characteristics of their clients, choose advertising endorsements, interview media, cooperative sponsors, etc., to truly maximize the commercial value of the player. David Beckham's ability to become one of the world's most expensive footballers depends on more than just his performances on the pitch.

As a simple example, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, lifelong rivals in the league, are no slouch when it comes to advertising endorsements.

Manning's endorsement income reached 12 million in a year, while Brady's was only 7 million.

But if you look at the details, Manning's endorsement products are all closely related to the sports industry, and they are all short-term contracts, and once Manning retires, these contracts will lose their validity; But Brady's endorsement is for fashion products such as watches and clothing, almost all of which are long-term contracts, in other words, advertisers are more willing to invest in the handsome Brady for the long term.

These details are the role of the broker, irreplaceable, and crucial. Since their work involves a lot of legal negotiation and calculation, many law graduates change careers to become brokers, which is also one of the career choices.

Secondly, the agent also needs to arrange the property management and private life of the player. In other words, it is actually an all-round supervision in all aspects.

For professional players, after entering the league, on the one hand, they need to face fierce competition, maintain the regularity of daily training, and need strong self-discipline; On the other hand, they are also in the spotlight and become the center of attention, and it is easy to lose yourself in the bustle and noise of Vanity Fair.

This is where the role of the broker comes into play.

For example, in the 2009 draft, William Moore was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the 55th pick in the second round, and after winning a sizable contract, he was ecstatic and began to splurge on it.

He bought a mansion, a Cadillac, and countless audio equipment and game consoles, and it wasn't until credit card payment date that he realized he owed a huge amount of debt, and his rookie contract was nowhere near as much as he thought. In the end, he relied on the handouts of his friends to make ends meet, and his agent had to start managing William Moore's day-to-day expenses.

Another example is Michael Vic, the quarterback who entered the league in 2001 and made it to the Atlanta Falcons — yes, the Falcons again; He pioneered the running quarterback and revolutionized the league's tactical structure, only to find a crisis in the spring of 2007.

Vic was embroiled in a dogfight case, which later turned out to be implicated in a range of core issues, from betting on matches to animal cruelty to missing animals, dating back to 2001. The case progressed quickly, animal rights groups continued to protest, and the media exposed Vic's gambling and tireless past, and the NFL announced an indefinite suspension of Victor.

After the incident, Vic issued an apology, but to no avail. Later, he was embroiled in legal troubles and then bankruptcy, and even the owner of the Atlanta Falcon came forward to demand that he pay back the signing fee.

In the end, Vic missed the perfect opportunity to plead guilty, was sentenced to 23 months in prison, lost the support of the fans, and became the target of expulsion from the league, which was truly discredited.

Since then, professional agents have begun to increase their efforts to manage and supervise their players, even extending to their daily training - they will urge players to complete each training day with discipline and discipline, and try to stay away from bad habits.

A good top agent who can even extend the career of a top player; And a bad agent has the potential to ruin the prospects of a potential newcomer early.

Of course, can the players do the above work on their own? Of course!

Players can negotiate with the team on their own, they can approach sponsors on their own, they can complete training on their own, they can manage their own property, they can arrange their own schedules. Handle everything, do it yourself, supervise it yourself, do it yourself, and if you can do it yourself, why pay for it and hire a broker?

The rugby agent's commission is 3 percent, in other words, all the player's income must be paid 3 percent to pay the agent's commission. That's not a small amount. Therefore, there are indeed many players in the league who refuse to use agents and play in person.

Lu Ke's rookie contract was signed by himself.

However, there is a specialization in the so-called art industry. Agents exist and play such an important role because they are able to plan a player's career and unlock more commercial value and future potential.

What's more, leaving those trivial matters to the agent can save worry and allow players to focus more on the field. Even if it's not a game, it's more relaxed to enjoy your vacation moments, rather than having an unpleasant relationship with the team and sponsors for a little profit.

In the business age of entertainment to death and profit first, agents are often portrayed as vampires.

It is true that they want their customers to perform better so that they can strive for more benefits; But the truly great agents clearly understand that a player is not just a cash cow, but also a partner who accompanies him through important stages of his life -

Drafts, training grounds, home games, press conferences, injury moments, team transfers, etc.

It is only when a private and intimate bond is established that agents and players can get the most out of each other. Take, for example, Peyton Manning's agent, Tom Condon.

In the NFL, top agents are inextricably linked to Hollywood, and among Hollywood's five major agencies, Innovative Artist Agency (CAA) and International Innovation Management (IMG), the two giants, are also the league's most powerful sports agencies.

Condon is the giant crocodile of an innovative artist agency.

When Manning was a college player, Condon, who was unknown at that time, became his agent, which also became the starting point of Condon's dynasty, and he accompanied Manning through his thirteen-year career; When Manning faced injuries this year, he still stayed with his partner and spent the darkest years.

Now, top quarterbacks such as Eli Manning, Tony Romo, Philip Rivers, and Drew Bliss are all players under Condon, and he alone is responsible for a contract worth of up to $1.3 billion, making him a well-deserved leader in the entire industry.

The players made Condon, and Condon made the players.

It is precisely because of the special bond between the agent and the player that the basis of the long-term cooperation is knowledge, understanding, support, which is an employment relationship and at the same time a partnership, and both parties must make efforts and attempts. In a sense, they can be called family members who are not related by blood.

Today is the first meeting between Lu Ke and Lehe, there is no cooperation, no understanding, just small talk, the first step is to get rid of the alienation of strangers and become friends. Now it seems that the hour-long conversation was very pleasant.

In the distance, the candelabra park was already in view, and the conversation was coming to an end.