Saturday Mike Florio of NBC Sports and Pro Football Talk broke the news that up to two NFL player agents may have improperly gained entrance to the NFL combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
(Sexton and Dye, Jr. joined forces last November)
NFL rules prohibit NFL player agents from attending NFL combine activities in person.
In the Pro Football Talk report, at least one source indicated to Florio and PFT reporter Gregg Rosenthal that one of the agents had allegedly been, “cuffed, detained, and removed from Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday after using a sponsor’s credential to gain access.”
I’ve since learned from multiple sources the identities of two NFL player agents who improperly gained access to a restricted, players-only NFL combine area last weekend.
Pat Dye, Jr., and Jimmy Sexton, who recently merged their player and coach representation firms, broke NFL rules by attending restricted NFL combine activities in person thanks to passes obtained from event sponsor Under Armour. Dye, Jr. was handcuffed, detained and removed from the players-only combine area by local law enforcement. Sexton exited the premises in question before the incident involving police and Dye, Jr.
When contacted about the incident involving Dye, Jr. and Sexton, a public information officer for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department acknowledged that an incident involving Indianapolis law enforcement did occur during the NFL combine, but that no arrest was made.
An NFL spokesman had no comment on the incident.
An attempt to reach Dye, Jr. Monday at his office in Atlanta was unsuccessful. A representative for Dye said he was in a meeting and unavailable. An email to Dye was not returned.
An attempt to reach Sexton Monday at his office in Memphis was unsuccessful. A representative for Sexton said he was unavailable for comment. An email to Sexton was not returned.
Subsequent to this report, Dye, Jr. told Liz Mullen of SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY that the confrontation with Indianapolis police that resulted in his being handcuffed and removed from a restricted NFL Combine area took place at the NFL’s official players-only hotel.
Mullen on Dye’s activities at the restricted NFL combine area via Twitter:
Spent less than 15 min in hotel. Did not have contact w any players. Was handcuffed by Indy police leaving hotel.
Mullen reports Dye also maintained he was “invited” to the restricted area by Under Armour personnel, who were apparently unaware of the NFL rule restricting agents from NFL combine players-only areas.
Sexton’s NFL client list includes Tim Tebow, Ravens left tackle Michael Oher, Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams, Browns running back Peyton Hillis, and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. Sexton’s coaching clients include Bill Parcells, Tony Sparano, and Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin, Steve Spurrier, Houston Nutt and Tommy Tuberville.
Dye, Jr., who is the son of former Auburn football coach Pat Dye, represents Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware, Jets linebacker Calvin Pace, Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain, and Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher.
The Sexton/Dye firm also represents DeMarco Murray, Julio Jones and Sam Acho in this year’s NFL draft class.
Follow Brooks on Twitter and join him on Facebook for more real-time updates.
2:08 pm on February 28th, 2011
Pat Dye Jr. Like father, like son.
2:19 pm on February 28th, 2011
Under Armour and AU seem to common threads in quite a few news worthy items lately
, Agents, Street agents, 7 on 7 sponsorhips, is anyone else seeing some patterns? everyone wants to be a player!
2:24 pm on February 28th, 2011
What idiots. Too bad it means nothing to them. They don’t care, and this is a wash-up.
But it’s exactly the kind of story I come here for—–the kind of story that DOESN’T get told in the mainstream media. Brooks, you are the man. Never boring.
2:27 pm on February 28th, 2011
Is it against the law for agents to attend the combine? By whose authority was he handcuffed?
2:28 pm on February 28th, 2011
What law school did you go to Scott? Trespassing on private property during a private event is against the law. Even though they had a credential, it was limited to a certain class of people. Agents weren’t one of them…and I’m sure they knew that. It would not surprise me if the NFL had deputies at the event to detain/arrest trespassers.
3:10 pm on February 28th, 2011
My bad. I was sick that day in class. Didn’t think trespassing on public property was the applicable crime.
4:17 pm on February 28th, 2011
Didn’t Jimmah Sexton hook Butch Davis up with UNC-CHeat?
5:54 pm on February 28th, 2011
agents??
5:57 pm on February 28th, 2011
Too bad no one cares about Fanhouse or AOL.
6:22 pm on February 28th, 2011
Dye and Sexton are loaded—they have millions to pay any chump change fine. They’ll be laughing in their limos on the way to another player meeting, drinking champagne.
7:35 pm on February 28th, 2011
Rules? What rules? Since when were agents held accountable for anything? The nerve of some people to harass them.
7:36 pm on February 28th, 2011
I don’t think the dome is public property, it it?
8:01 pm on February 28th, 2011
Hell I don’t know. Who paid for it? Probably the citizens of the state of Indiana.
12:10 am on March 1st, 2011
Haven’t any of you ever gained access to a concert or theatre you were not supposed to be in? If I were Dye and Sexton, I’d try it too! Good advertisement for their agency! They’ll want to thank SB(no pun intended).Sounds like they have a really good client list as well! Good for them! No harm, no foul.
2:41 pm on March 1st, 2011
Check this story on sexton out sportsbybrooks.com/is-ncaas-agent-for-change-completely-insane-29272
6:35 pm on March 4th, 2011
Agents that have a blatant disregard of the rules like this … Scum
6:59 pm on March 4th, 2011
who believes their spin? like julio did not sign that deal weeks ago. agents client poaching is a serious issue at the combine. bout time some of them ended up in handcuffs
8:08 pm on March 6th, 2011
nick saban your agent is a pimp!