BLOG.SPORTSLAWTALK.COM: Where Are They Now? Long before Drew Rosenhaus there was Mike Trope

Where Are They Now? Long before Drew Rosenhaus there was Mike Trope

June 29, 2009

Sportslawtalk presents: Where are they now? Long before Drew Rosenhaus there was Mike Trope.

We promise you that this week we will have part two of our interview with Robert Ruxin, author of An Athletes Guide To Agents. If you go back to our first part of the interview with Robert Ruxin, we spoke about 1982 when Mr. Ruxin’s book first came out, then-President Ronald Reagan was in his first term, and one of the leading football agents at the time was Mike Trope.

Long before Drew Rosenhaus and his high profile representation of NFL players, and Rosenhaus’s book A Shark Never Sleeps, there was agent Mike Trope, who started his athlete representation career with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers as his first client in the early 1970’s. Trope’s 1987 book titled Necessary Roughness chronicled his times in the agent business, when the business was really the wild west, with no certification, state regulation or any enforcement body governing the regulation of agents and players. Among Mr. Trope’s clients were Johnny Rodgers, Tony Dorsett, Archie Griffin, Lawrence Taylor, Hugh Green, and George Rogers.

1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska - Mike Trope's first client

The book Necessary Roughness chronicles Trope’s entry into the agent business. At the age of 21, as an undergraduate at USC, Trope flew to Lincoln, Nebraska to find and meet with Johnny Rodgers, the 1972 Heisman Trophy winner. Despite Trope’s lack of experience, he convinced Rodgers to let him become his agent, and as they say, the rest is history. Trope went on to represent dozens of first round picks and was the highest profile agent in his day. Trope’s recruiting tactics were questioned by many, but he enjoyed great success during his career. One of the more interesting chapters is about his feud with Leigh Steinberg. By the mid 1980’s Trope was winding down his business as an agent. By the late 1980’s Trope was out of the agent business and practicing law in California.