Geno smith signed with jay-z. I heard it caused him to fall in the draft. Also said by fox sports radio national host was that jay helps clients clean up images. He said jay makes them wear suits for instance. I don't think it has to do with race as much as it may have to do with his lyrics.
It might be about needing to prove to personnel managers and experienced CEOs that he knows the first ******* thing about prospecting, evaluating and truthfully representing athletes' value as function of his multi-year, multi-million dollar asking price on their behalf.
Considering Smith did not hire Jay-Z until about a month AFTER the draft, I don't think that caused his stock to fall.
If I'm not mistaken his whole agency is backed by CAA (Creative Artists Agency). I don't think he's a licensed agent or even gets a full commission if any. He just dines and wines a potential client, client then sign with his company (not Jay Z) and a CAA licensed agent does the repping. What I remember reading is that he is circumventing the rules a bit. Because of his celebrity he can woo clients that CAA would normally not get. So he's pissing of the NFl and IMG (International Management Group). It has nothing to do with race, rap or lyrics. It's circumventing the rules and pissing off the wrong people.
Reminds me of the time Master P got into the sports agent business. His client was Ricky Williams and I recall it not going so well. Anyways, No Limit Soldiers for life.
But the stupid part about this was that it worked out really well for the owners. Rather than being too difficult to sign because of Master P's agency, Williams ended up signing a super team-friendly incentive based deal that eventually had to be redone because it was too inequitable once he got really good.
Jay Z is already asking for silly contracts. He represents Robinson Cano. Word is that he wants a 10 year, $310 million deal. $31 per year for 10 years for a 31 year old outfielder? Ummm...no thanks. I think Cano is an upper eschew on talent, but he isn't better than Fielder or Pujols when they signed, and Cano wants 1/3 more. It is this type of thing that causes GMs to not like dealin with jay Z. He has not proven that he knows anything about the sports business and he proves that by asking for silly contracts..
