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The big lie began whenever Drew Rosenhaus answered one of his four cell phones these past two months, selling Willis McGahee to reporters as some medical miracle, telling NFL teams which rival worked him out last and guaranteeing everyone his client was a set-in-stone No. 1 draft pick, something the agent didn't believe himself.
Even at the road's end Saturday, everyone was played for a stooge. Rosenhaus sat in his waterside home beside McGahee, just seconds from going live on ESPN as they still sweated where the draft would land them.
Suddenly, McGahee's cell phone rang. The running back's face twisted upon seeing the incoming number.
"Yeah, it's me," Rosenhaus mumbled into his phone, looking straight ahead into the TV camera with a pasted-on smile. "Pretend I'm an NFL team calling you. Look happy."
McGahee kept the phone to his ear.
"Maybe we can get some team that's watching to think we're talking to other teams," Rosenhaus said as ESPN displayed them on the screen.
It was all so staged you didn't know whether to scoff or laugh, hiss or applaud, call Rosenhaus a slimeball or a super agent. And this is how it was since February. It's how he manipulated the McGahee market to the point that when Buffalo made McGahee a first-round millionaire and the story of the draft, there were actually two stories.
First, there was the story everyone knew, the one that began with the University of Miami star blowing out his knee in the national championship game against Ohio State. Who didn't feel for him? And pity his lost draft status from top-three pick to projected fourth-rounder? And who wasn't impressed by his hard work after surgery or enjoy his cry for joy after Buffalo took him?
"Go ahead, let it out," his mother said, wiping a tear as it rolled down his cheek.
"Oh, man, oh, man," he said as the tears fell.
Then there was the story no one saw. The story of the big lie. It was the one where he created an image of desire out of thin air. He began by working the media like putty, playing off a writer's or camera's natural willingness to trade access for a feel-good story.
"Everybody bought into this idea he was making a miraculous recovery," Rosenhaus said after the draft. "The media made it easy -- made it so easy -- by repeating what I was saying about him being a first-round pick. Remember, I guaranteed in February he'd be the first running back taken [he was]."
How much of that was just hopeful hot air?
"A lot of it," he said.
Oh, there were serious doubts where it mattered. Let's note that. At the Indianapolis combine, for example, a few team doctors huddled together in a rare moment of note-comparing. "Why's all this being written about him walking without a limp and being way ahead of schedule?" one asked.
"His knee looks like you'd expect -- a train wreck," another said.
Still, the headlines sparked talk. And the talk created a fans' debate. And that environment allowed teams to consider McGahee not as a risk but a reward. And Rosenhaus kept fanning every exaggerated angle.
One example: It was true New England coach Bill Belichick came to Miami and personally worked out McGahee, as Rosenhaus phoned in and everyone reported from New England to, well, the Sun-Sentinel ("McGahee Fit Enough For Tryout With Pats" read the April 3 headline).
"What I didn't tell everyone was Belichick was down to work out six Miami players and Willis was just one of them," Rosenhaus said. "So the perception was Belichick was here just for McGahee. See how it worked?"
He did it again when New England and Washington had their trainer examine McGahee. And he called ESPN, which featured McGahee's recovery before the draft -- "A miraculous recovery," Chris Berman called it Saturday.
His physical therapist, Ed Garabedian, watched and said, "The knee's ahead of schedule. But he's got a lot of work ahead of him. It's a long-term deal, not short-term."
Meanwhile, Rosenhaus watched the ESPN debate with glee. "This is great, believe me," he said to McGahee's silent mother. "The fact they're talking about him and we're at the 19th pick is terrific. Someone's going to grab him."
He then coached McGahee on what to say on ESPN to encourage a team to pick him: "Say everything's going great, that whatever team picks you is going to get their money out of you."
Then he pulled the phone trick, calling McGahee just before going on the air. After which, his lieutenant and brother, Jason, said, "That probably got a couple teams nervous."
"May have," Drew said.
Did any of this sway Buffalo into grabbing McGahee with the 23rd pick, a position not even mentioned weeks ago? Buffalo never checked McGahee's knee beyond the two NFL-scheduled dates. Never had a personal workout. Never called his doctor, his physical therapist or Rosenhaus.
Maybe it was playing a silent game of its own. Or maybe in a stage full of stooges, it just became the final one.
"Maybe they saw Belichick's interest and grabbed Willis," Rosenhaus said
Here's the story:
The big lie began whenever Drew Rosenhaus answered one of his four cell phones these past two months, selling Willis McGahee to reporters as some medical miracle, telling NFL teams which rival worked him out last and guaranteeing everyone his client was a set-in-stone No. 1 draft pick, something the agent didn't believe himself.
Even at the road's end Saturday, everyone was played for a stooge. Rosenhaus sat in his waterside home beside McGahee, just seconds from going live on ESPN as they still sweated where the draft would land them.
Suddenly, McGahee's cell phone rang. The running back's face twisted upon seeing the incoming number.
"Yeah, it's me," Rosenhaus mumbled into his phone, looking straight ahead into the TV camera with a pasted-on smile. "Pretend I'm an NFL team calling you. Look happy."
McGahee kept the phone to his ear.
"Maybe we can get some team that's watching to think we're talking to other teams," Rosenhaus said as ESPN displayed them on the screen.
It was all so staged you didn't know whether to scoff or laugh, hiss or applaud, call Rosenhaus a slimeball or a super agent. And this is how it was since February. It's how he manipulated the McGahee market to the point that when Buffalo made McGahee a first-round millionaire and the story of the draft, there were actually two stories.
First, there was the story everyone knew, the one that began with the University of Miami star blowing out his knee in the national championship game against Ohio State. Who didn't feel for him? And pity his lost draft status from top-three pick to projected fourth-rounder? And who wasn't impressed by his hard work after surgery or enjoy his cry for joy after Buffalo took him?
"Go ahead, let it out," his mother said, wiping a tear as it rolled down his cheek.
"Oh, man, oh, man," he said as the tears fell.
Then there was the story no one saw. The story of the big lie. It was the one where he created an image of desire out of thin air. He began by working the media like putty, playing off a writer's or camera's natural willingness to trade access for a feel-good story.
"Everybody bought into this idea he was making a miraculous recovery," Rosenhaus said after the draft. "The media made it easy -- made it so easy -- by repeating what I was saying about him being a first-round pick. Remember, I guaranteed in February he'd be the first running back taken [he was]."
How much of that was just hopeful hot air?
"A lot of it," he said.
Oh, there were serious doubts where it mattered. Let's note that. At the Indianapolis combine, for example, a few team doctors huddled together in a rare moment of note-comparing. "Why's all this being written about him walking without a limp and being way ahead of schedule?" one asked.
"His knee looks like you'd expect -- a train wreck," another said.
Still, the headlines sparked talk. And the talk created a fans' debate. And that environment allowed teams to consider McGahee not as a risk but a reward. And Rosenhaus kept fanning every exaggerated angle.
One example: It was true New England coach Bill Belichick came to Miami and personally worked out McGahee, as Rosenhaus phoned in and everyone reported from New England to, well, the Sun-Sentinel ("McGahee Fit Enough For Tryout With Pats" read the April 3 headline).
"What I didn't tell everyone was Belichick was down to work out six Miami players and Willis was just one of them," Rosenhaus said. "So the perception was Belichick was here just for McGahee. See how it worked?"
He did it again when New England and Washington had their trainer examine McGahee. And he called ESPN, which featured McGahee's recovery before the draft -- "A miraculous recovery," Chris Berman called it Saturday.
His physical therapist, Ed Garabedian, watched and said, "The knee's ahead of schedule. But he's got a lot of work ahead of him. It's a long-term deal, not short-term."
Meanwhile, Rosenhaus watched the ESPN debate with glee. "This is great, believe me," he said to McGahee's silent mother. "The fact they're talking about him and we're at the 19th pick is terrific. Someone's going to grab him."
He then coached McGahee on what to say on ESPN to encourage a team to pick him: "Say everything's going great, that whatever team picks you is going to get their money out of you."
Then he pulled the phone trick, calling McGahee just before going on the air. After which, his lieutenant and brother, Jason, said, "That probably got a couple teams nervous."
"May have," Drew said.
Did any of this sway Buffalo into grabbing McGahee with the 23rd pick, a position not even mentioned weeks ago? Buffalo never checked McGahee's knee beyond the two NFL-scheduled dates. Never had a personal workout. Never called his doctor, his physical therapist or Rosenhaus.
Maybe it was playing a silent game of its own. Or maybe in a stage full of stooges, it just became the final one.
"Maybe they saw Belichick's interest and grabbed Willis," Rosenhaus said
I seriously doubt that McGahee will get much $$$ in 2003, he will need to wait for 2004 for the big bucks
Both God and TD work in mysterious ways!
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