Wednesday, January 25, 2008

SPORTS AGENT IS ALL ABOUT FAMILY

*In cutthroat business, laid-back lawyer treats his athletes like they’re one of his children.

By Tim Twentyman
The Detroit News

Farmington Hills
Kevin Poston’s home office is a shrine to the athletes’ lives he has helped change.

Signed basketballs, game jerseys, helmets, sports magazine covers, trophies and photos are spread out all over his plush Farmington Hills office.

Almost out of place, the sports agent from Saginaw sits in jeans and a company logo sweat shirt talking multimillion-dollar contracts with the NFL executives. A very practical Poston has become extremely successful in this business because of his laid-back demeanor and the way he treats his athletes – like family.

Family and faith are what Poston is all about.

“People asked me how I couldn’t be at Charles Rogers’ first NFL game with the Lions,” he said. “My son had a football game at the same time, and I was one of the coaches. I finished my son’s game and then (drove) to Ford Field, but Charles knew, family comes first. I love those guys and they know it, but I don’t have to show up for a game to prove that.”

That type of family mentality has built quite a portfolio of successful clients for Poston.

Co-owner of Professional Sports Planning Inc. on Harwich in Farmington Hills with his brother Carl, Poston represents high-profile people who include Charles Woodson (Oakland Raiders), Ty Law (New York Jets), Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks), Charles Rogers (Detroit Lions), LaVar Arrington (Washington Redskins), Shawn Merriman (San Diego Chargers) and Kellen Winslow Jr. (Cleveland Browns).

“Kevin is a guy you can talk to anytime about any issue,” said Redd, an All-Star guard for the NBA’s Bucks. “He really cares about all of his clients and he is going to fight for you. Our relationship runs deeper than athletics. It’s a true friendship.”

Poston is the third of four boys who grew up in Saginaw after his parents moved from Detroit in 1955.

In 1981, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. He earned a law degree from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern in Houston in 1985.

By the early 1990s, he was a partner and shareholder with Miro Miro and Weiner in Bloomfield Hills, specializing in real-estate law.

Poston and his brother first considered sports representation in the 1980s and had PSP up and running by 1995.

“We didn’t talk to No. 1 picks or first rounders at first; we were just trying to get into the business,” Poston said. “I remember being very poor for a period. People look at it now and say ‘look at these guys you represent’ and ‘look what you do.’”

Poston’s first client was Anthony Landry, a 10th round pick (253rd overall) in 1990, who was eventually cut by the New England Patriots.

“A Houston Oilers coach asked me why I was going to leave a low firm to deal with fickle athletes,” Poston said. “He didn’t think I was going to do well in this business because I didn’t have the sleaze factor.”

The sleazy persona of a jet-setting agent with $1,000 suits and sports cars is not Poston’s reality and the reality of most agents. Movies like “Jerry Maguire” and HBO’s hit series “Arliss” don’t accurately represent the lives of Poston and most other agents, Poston said.

Poston is a straightforward guy who spends most of his days in blue jeans and sweat shirts on the phone at his home office. But don’t let the laid-back persona fool you. When he enters a boardroom, it is all business.

Poston’s background in law and contract negations has served his clients well. Known as a shark in the boardroom by players and general managers, Poston has gotten his clients some of the richest contracts in sports.

Redd, who is averaging nearly 25 points per game this season, signed a $91 million guaranteed contract in the off-season. He is the first second-round pick to ever sign a NBA maximum contract.

“Kevin has a reputation of working hard with management, buy my experience with him has been absolutely positive,” said A.J. Smith, executive president of the Sand Diego Chargers.

“Someone once compared me to Johnnie Cochran and asked me if I was a better lawyer than Johnnie. I told them that in a courtroom, Johnnie would whoop me; he’s a courtroom lawyer,” Poston said. “But in a boardroom, boy, Johnnie would have been in trouble in a boardroom.”