Welcome to New York, Geno Smith.
Late last month, the former West Virginia quarterback fired his agent, Select Sports, after falling to the second round of the NFL draft. Now property of the Jets, Smith is finding that there are perks to being a quarterback in New York City — like being courted by Jay-Z, for one.
Early in April, it came out that the rapper-mogul was selling his share in the Brooklyn Nets to avoid a conflict of interest, paving the way to start a sports representation agency, Roc Nation Sports. The fledgling agency even managed to sign Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano — who will be a free agent this winter — as its first client.
Now, according to a report from ProFootballTalk, Roc Nation was among several agencies making their pitch to become Smith’s agent. Smith just completed two days of meetings, where Joel Segal, Rick Smith of Priority Sports, Eugene Parker, Fletcher Smith and Roc Nation all made their case.
However, it’s worthy of noting that Jay-Z, himself, cannot participate in negotiations. He is not certified as a professional football agent, and thus he is not allowed to so much as persuade any individual so sign with his agency.
