Joseph Clayborne is an National Football League Players Association certified Contract Advisor. Such a designation provides Clayborne the privilege to represent NFL players and assist them in negotiating NFL team contracts. It is a designation many people pay a lot of money to acquire (the non-refundable application fee alone is $2,500 in 2015), but very few maintain. Representing football players is a cutthroat business; Clayborne has demonstrated that despite the immense competition, there is still space for newcomers. His second go-around with the NFL Draft proved that to be true.
I caught up with Clayborne following the 2015 NFL Draft, which served as Clayborne's second year since becoming certified in which he attempted to be the agent of record for a player selected by an NFL team. He accomplished that goal. This year, Clayborne is the sole individual on linebacker Markus Golden's Standard Representation Agreement. Golden, a former member of the Missouri Tigers, was picked by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Clayborne's first client in the NFL was also a member of the Missouri Tigers. In his inaugural year as a certified agent, Clayborne co-represented Mizzou defensive end Kony Ealy along with football agent Andy Ross, now an agent with Houston, Texas-based Select Sports Group.
Two years, two second round picks . That is something most agent hopefuls desire to achieve in the first couple of years of being certified to represent NFL players.
"I really didn't recruit too much outside the University of Missouri this year," explained Clayborne. "It wasn't as challenging, because I represent Kony. Kony and Markus were probably best friends at the University of Missouri."
In his first year as a certified agent, Clayborne went to twelve of Missouri's fourteen games. That type of commitment to the team and being around its players went a long way in building a strong relationship with Ealy, which transferred to greatly assisting Clayborne recruit Golden as a client. It does not hurt that Clayborne is from the St. Louis area and has visited the University of Missouri periodically his entire life.
"I want to sign at least one guy from Mizzou every year," said Clayborne. "I want to focus on defensive linemen, because that was my first two clients and each went pretty high."
It sounds like Clayborne has become set on a strategy and is executing it quite well. He has one other client -- Travis Manning, a cornerback from Northwest Missouri State -- who was invited to Dallas Cowboys rookie minicamp as an undrafted free agent.
I covered Clayborne around this same time last year, noting that the agent was in a very unique situation. He was in the middle of preparing his client Ealy for the NFL Draft in the middle of preparing himself to take Final Exams in his last year as a student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Football players change agents all the time, but Ealy has stuck by Clayborne, despite his young age and cool demeanor.
"I work out with my clients when we are together . . . conditioning, football drills, everything," said Clayborne. "We relate a lot better with my age. I see myself as a role model as well. The main reasons Markus' mother said she wanted to go with me . . . hard work ethic, drive and determination."
Draft night went as planned for Clayborne and his clients. He expected Golden to be a late first/early second round pick. Clayborne spoke to Cardinals general manager Steve Keim four hours prior to the second round and had a feeling that Golden was going to Arizona. The Cardinals, which Clayborne interned for in Summer 2012, ended up selecting his client.
Since the 2015 NFL Draft, Clayborne has been talking to Nike and expects to get a shoe deal done for Golden in the next few days. He has also been in touch with some memorabilia companies based in and around Arizona.
Besides dealing with off-field opportunities, the life of a twenty-six year old agent with two NFL clients is consumed by tasks not generally made aware to the public at large.
"We were in Denver for the Draft," explained Clayborne. "[Golden's] first child was born a few days after. I am in the process of trying to plan a Draft party for him in St. Louis since he wasn't able to be there during the Draft. I'll be going out to Arizona in the next week or so to check in with Markus and get him acclimated."
Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.
