Listen to The FizzCast with Othello Henderson, who took money from an agent at UCLA.
After the ground-breaking story in the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated concerning former college players taking money from then-agent Josh Luchs, I had even more questions about how it all happened and more importantly Рwhy?
One of the players named in the story is Othello Henderson. He’s a former UCLA Bruin who went on to a short career in the NFL, and now spends his time speaking to young high school athletes about making good decisions and trying to guide them on the right path.
Henderson admits that he took money while he was still in college, a violation of NCAA rules, but tries to use his story to help others avoid making possible career ending mistakes. We spoke with him for the latest edition of the FizzCast and found that he had some very revealing and candid answers.
What was his reaction to finding out about the story? He said Sports Illustrated had called him a few months in advance of running the piece. While he did take money, not all of what is portrayed in the story is true, he says:
“Josh (Luchs) and I weren’t friends. He actually was a runner for my agent when I was in college. Doc Daniels is who Josh used to work for. The funny thing to me is that he makes himself seem like he was this super agent. If you read that article, you would have thought Josh was actually out there representing guys, and he’s always worked for somebody. Even up until he said he’s getting out of the business now. He’s still working for somebody else. It’s not ‘he’s the agent and he has runners working for him.’”
Why Luchs come forward with a story like this? Does it mean someone has something to gain?
“I feel like (the article) was kinda selfish and was for self gratification. He actually, in the article, alludes to the fact that he doesn’t have anything to gain from it, but I believe he does. How often do you see a non-athlete get a cover story in Sports Illustrated? He went from being somebody that nobody knew who Josh Luchs was, and now everybody internationally knows who he is.”
Henderson was a two-sport All-American in football in track coming out of high school but colleges targeted him for fall Saturdays. Recruiting trips today are essentially public affairs, all the information within the click of a mouse. Henderson had a pretty plush experience.
“I took four trips. I went to Notre Dame, I went to LSU, I went to UCLA, and I went to Nebraska and I cancelled my trip to USC because I got tired of traveling. I actually went to LSU and Nebraska on a Learjet. I didn’t see benefits until I got to college. Yeah, there’s money out there, but one of the main reasons why I left the state of Texas was because a lot of the Southeast Conference schools were already getting put on probation because they were violating NCAA rules.”
He chose UCLA and went on to have a very successful career. To my surprise though, he said it’s not the football or the stadium or the girls schools try to sell. It’s books.
“Most of the colleges Рthey sell academics believe it or not. They will let you know what their graduation rate is; they will let you know how much they care about you as a student before an athlete. They understand that you’re coming there to play but they want you to understand there is going to be work involved when you get there.”
Apparently the NCAA rulebook was not a part of the curriculum. Henderson took money when he was still enrolled in school, which could have gotten him kicked off the team. When he talks about it now, there’s a twinge of regret in his voice, and maybe a little self anger. He knows he shouldn’t have done it, but what a college brain knows and a professional brain knows can be worlds apart.
“You think on a whim when you’re that young. In my case, I started playing college ball when I was 17 and I was drafted into the NFL at 20. You think you want instantaneous gratification at that time. You’re young, you’re high strung, you’re on the go and you don’t think past the decisions that you make. But a lot of times when you make the decision and you think back and you’re like ‘Oh my goodness!’ When I made the decision to do what I did, it was the wrong decision. Once I got in the situation, I couldn’t turn around and go back because at that point I would have been sacrificing my eligibility.”
And despite having played in the NFL, there’s a decision he says that was even harder than having to choose an agent.
“Agents don’t do a lot of work,” Henderson says. It’s all about what you’ve done on the field.
The choice of your four-year college is the biggest investment you’ll make, he says.
“I think it’s probably harder picking a school going from high school to college. A lot of times when you’re in college and you’re about to go into the NFL, you have already built your stock based off of what you’ve done collegiately. A lot of agents will tell you they can get you more money, yes they probably can because they have a working relationship with a specific player personnel guy or a general manager of a professional team, but as a student-athlete in college you built your stocking playing at the collegiate level. I think it’s a much harder decision going from high school and picking the right school. Everybody’s not going to play Division-1 ball, you need to pick the college that fits you. I tell kids all the time if you were to go to the school that you pick, and you break your leg and you can’t play one down of football, you need to know you’re going to be happy going to that school for the next four years.”
That can be something easily overlooked by a recruit who’s just wowed by the size of the Carrier Dome or the kindness of a coach. Just because something looks good on the outside doesn’t mean that it’s always the right fit.
Henderson spends his time today working with a high school recruiting network that advises potential Division-1 athletes. He has the same message for all of them – one that he probably wishes someone would have been there to tell him back when he was 17.
“I’ll tell all of them how many of you know right from wrong? And they all raise their hand. I was like, so we got it clear that everybody knows right from wrong? And they’ll say yes. And I’ll say ‘You’re right. Because a two year old child knows if they put their hand on a hot stove, and it’s hot, they know not to put their hand on a hot stove again. They know right from wrong at that point. So if a two or three year old child knows right from wrong, you as a teenager know right from wrong.’ I don’t believe in making mistakes, you make bad decisions. Making a mistake is not knowing right from wrong.”
Posted: Mike Couzens
131 responses to “Fizz Exclusive: NCAA Player Admits Getting Paid to Play”
I’ve got read some good things hereDefinitely price bookmarking for revisitingI wonder what amount attempt you determine to develop these kinds of great informative website.
I have to voice my respect for your generosity supporting those people that absolutely need help on this particular subject. Your special dedication to passing the solution around came to be rather significant and have regularly made some individuals much like me to realize their goals. Your own informative information indicates a whole lot a person like me and further more to my mates. Many thanks; from all of us.
Someone necessarily help to make critically posts I’d state. This is the first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I amazed with the research you made to create this actual post incredible. Magnificent job!
hello there and thank you for your information ‚Äì I’ve definitely picked
up something new from right here. I did however expertise some
technical points using this site, as I experienced to reload the web site lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly.
I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but
slow loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and
can damage your high-quality score if advertising and marketing with
Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my email
and could look out for a lot more of your
respective fascinating content. Ensure that you update this again soon.
i can take for granted you’re an expert on this topic
Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely helpful information specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this particular information for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.
What’s up colleagues, how is everything, and what you would like
to say concerning this piece of writing, in my view its actually awesome in support of
me.
I found your blog on yahoo and can bookmark it currently. carry on the nice work.
Good – I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related information ended up being truly simple to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Quite unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or something, website theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Nice task.
Its fantastic as your other articles :D, thanks for posting.
I like this post, enjoyed this one thanks for putting up.
I’ve learned result-oriented things by means of your web site. One other thing I’d really like to say is the fact newer personal computer os’s have a tendency to allow far more memory to use
After study a couple of with the weblog posts on your site now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site list and will probably be checking back soon. Pls take a look at my internet internet site as well and let me know what you think.
A very exciting go by means of, I may not agree completely, but you do make some really legitimate factors.
Just wanna input on few general things, The website pattern is perfect, the content material is very great : D.
I like this post, enjoyed this one regards for posting . If you have more time, please visit my site: http://saobang.vn/rao-vat-d2014100408042628/dich-vu/chon-ao-cuoi-phu-hop-voi-voc-dang-moi-nguoi.html
Some really choice articles on this site, saved to fav.
Regards for this post, I’m a big big fan of this internet site would like to go on updated.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.
Many hackers are blogging that can remove activation lock and allowing users to restore iDevice without authentication code. But this is shown that is not working the way should be. Many owners currently facing locked Apple iCloud Activation and can’t activate their devices like iPhone 4, 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, iPad and iPad Mini. Now for first time on the web we will present you the Bypass iCloud Lock Tool only working tool on the web who will make you happy. For first we will explain how to remove and then will start with removal process. This service is totally for free and is no need to pay for this service, just completed the survey and download will start automatically.
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this internet site before but after browsing via some of the post I realized it is new to me. Nonetheless, I’m surely pleased I identified it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
Pendant la période récente, les enfants de tous les groupes d’âge vont online et sont désireux d’interagir avec de nouveaux amis. Mais, en effet, l’Internet est un endroit dangereux. Meme s’il est la plaque tournante de l’information moderne et peut enrichir les connaissances de votre enfant, il peut également servir comme une plate-forme pour lui présenter aux harceleurs, aux kidnappeurs ou r des personnes avec des fins malveillantes. En utilisant l’outil de pirater un compte facebook facile r utiliser, vous serez en mesure de se connecter r leur profil et de lire le contenu stocké r l’intérieur. Vous pouvez converser avec des gens qui vous semblent suspectes dans la liste de leurs amis, et vérifier si ces personnes sont authentiques ou d’essaient de faire des choses nuisibles r vos proches. Vous pouvez faire tout cela r l’insu de vos enfants adolescents qui assurent qu’ils ne se sentent pas mal r propos de vous, pour violer leur vie privée.
Just a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw great layout. “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” by Albert Einstein.
Hello! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for
this website? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues
with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform.
I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of
a good platform.
It’s really a great and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this helpful info with us.
Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Hi there, yup this paragraph is actually nice and I have learned lot of things from it on the topic of blogging.
thanks.
Thank you, I have just been looking for information about this subject for a while and yours is the greatest I have found out so far. But, what in regards to the conclusion? Are you sure concerning the source?
Hey there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to give it a look.
I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
Excellent blog and fantastic style and design.
Hi, I think your web site could be having browser compatibility problems.
When I look at your site in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in I.E., it’s got some
overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Apart from that, great website!
Merely wanna input on few general things, The website design and style is perfect, the articles is really wonderful : D.
锘垮鐨囧悗 DVD 2800鍐? 姣庢棩鏂板搧銇撱亾銇汉姘楁捣澶栥儔銉┿優 鍥藉唴銉夈儵銉濪VD銇嬨倝銆併偄銉嬨儭DVD Blu-ray銇俱仹锛岄煋鍥姐儔銉┿優銆併偄銉嬨儭銉夈儵銉炪€佹棩鏈琓V銉夈儵銉炪€佷腑鍥姐儔銉┿優銆備汉姘桪VD鐗逛尽銈汇兗銉腑!鍏ㄥ搧閰嶉€佺劇鏂欍€
Hmm is anyone else experiencing difficulties with the images on this blog loading? I’m trying to find out if its a dilemma on my finish or if it’s the weblog. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.
The following the five data you need to do remember so you’ll be able to manage to produce your specific successful world-wide-web. survey reviews
Good blog post. I definitely love this website.
Thanks!
Hey there! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my
new iphone 3gs! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look
forward to all your posts! Keep up the outstanding work!
Great blog! Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers?
I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you suggest starting with a free platform like
Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many
choices out there that I’m completely overwhelmed ..
Any tips? Thanks!
At this time it seems like Expression Engine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
I actually have observed this website to be very interesting and useful. Maintain the best effort and posting the relevant items
What i don’t understood is if truth be told how you are no longer actually a lot more neatly-liked than you might be right now. You’re so intelligent. You understand thus considerably when it comes to this matter, made me individually imagine it from numerous numerous angles. Its like men and women aren’t involved unless it’s something to do with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs outstanding. All the time take care of it up!
Hi there to all, how is everything, I think every one is
getting more from this web site, and your views are good in support of new viewers.
What i do not realize is actually how you are not actually much more smartly-liked than you may be now. You’re so intelligent. You recognize thus significantly in relation to this matter, produced me for my part believe it from numerous varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t interested until it’s something to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your personal stuffs great. At all times maintain it up!
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
You have a really great layout for your blog, i want it to make use of on my web site as well .
my English teacher hate me cause i keep writing about somebody from The WANTED called Jay, she gives me evils and low
I conceive you have observed some very interesting details, regards for the post.
Appreciate it to the wise examine. People & our own neighbor are just preparing to execute a number of investigation with this. Many of us purchased the have a newsletter by your regional variety however In my opinion My spouse and i acquired more crystal clear as a result write-up. We’re very ecstatic to view these kinds of excellent files getting outlined easily on the market.
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
You should take part in a contest for one of the finest websites on the web.
I most certainly will highly recommend this web site!
of course like your web-site but you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the reality then again I¡¦ll surely come back again.
Your means of describing the whole thing in this piece of writing is actually nice, all be able to effortlessly understand it,
Thanks a lot.