Tank Black's book, 'Tanked'
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Tanked
Over the past several decades the agent business, football in particular, has had it share of headline grabbing agents who end up with a tainted reputation. Sometimes it is well deserved, other times maybe not. Going back over the years, a few have written books about their experiences as agents. Who will ever forget the catchy titles used by Mike Trope- Necessary Roughness and Mel Levine- Life In The Trash Lane. Well sports law fans, we've got another, this time the infamous Tank Black (Mr. Black is not an attorney, but the agent field and the sports law field are so intertwined with non-attorneys battling with attorneys in pursuit of clients). Tank Black's book, Tanked, was recently released. In it, Mr. Black, who just finished serving an almost nine year prison term, seeks to defend himself and give his insight into the world of the agent business.
For those of you that don't know, in the 1990's Tank Black represented a number of top NFL players including Sterling Sharpe and numerous first round draft picks. Additionally, he represented one NBA player, Vince Carter. Prior to becoming an agent Black had been an assistant football coach at the University of South Carolina in the 1980’s where he had coached Sterling Sharpe. Black's connection to Sharpe at South Carolina gave him his start in the agent business. From there Black's business, known as Professional Management Incorporated (PMI), took off. Just like many other agents who reach the top of the rung, there soon comes a fall. Tanked traces the story of Black’s rise and fall. Black’s explanation for his fall involves spreading the blame among himself and many of those with whom he did business.
For those youngsters out there interested in the agent business, Tanked is a good book to read to gain some understanding of the nature of the agent business. Along with some valuable insights, the book does have factual errors about the business. One that stands out was Black’s statement that, after he left his coaching position at South Carolina in 1988, he could not represent NFL players in contract negotiations at that time because he was not a lawyer. Later he says that in 1993, after new NFLPA regulations were put into place regarding contract advisors, non-lawyers were allowed to negotiate on the behalf of players. Well, a number of successful agents prior to 1993 were not lawyers, such as Jim Steiner, Jack Wirth and Harold Lewis to name a few. So Tank Black is not alwaysaccurate on some things in his book.
Black gets in trouble for his actions not only with the NFLPA, but also with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He places much blame on the people he associated with, claiming that they were the criminals, not him. What happened to his obligation of due diligence? Agent or lawyer, the lack thereof leaves little in the way of excuses.
For another overview of Tanked check out the following link.
Tomorrow part 2 of Tank Black
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