The Anti-Conflict Of Interest Spin Begins

As we’ve mentioned several times of late, agent Tom Condon currently has a conflict of interest. He represents Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford and Baylor tackle Jason Smith, two of the guys who could end up being the first overall pick in the draft. And so at a time when Condon is negotiating with the Lions on behalf of Stafford, Condon should be trying on behalf of Smith to get the attention of the Lions, possibly by offering to dramatically undercut the demands he’s making on behalf of Stafford. Based on some of the comments that are being posted, the effort to take some steam out of the conflict of interest has begun. As one reader has stated (but as we haven’t personally confirmed), Michael Smith of ESPN recently tried to explain that there’s no conflict because Condon represents Stafford and Ben Dogra represents Jason Smith. [UPDATE: We’ve learned that Michael Smith didn’t raise the distinction within the context of the conflict of interest question, but as to whether Condon was negotiating on behalf of Jason Smith when Condon was in Detroit. Our apologies to Michael Smith, who actually once called out Condon for the many potentially conflicting hats he wears.] Superficially, such an observation would be right. Fundamentally, it would be inaccurate. First of all, Condon and Dogra are the principals of the CAA football business. Being represented by one is the same as being represented by the other. Indeed, if they were partners in a law firm, Condon would not be permitted to represent a client whose interests conflicted with a client represented by Dogra. Second, Dogra and Condon are listed as the agents for Stafford, and Condon and Michael Latrigue are listed as the agents for Smith. So both the firm and one of its agents -- Dogra -- are mired in the conflict of interest. Now that the NFL Players Association is being run by a lawyer (DeMaurice Smith), we hope that said lawyer will develop regulations aimed at forcing agents to step aside from such situations -- or, at a minimum, to fully disclose the situation to the clients and to obtain their written consent to the joint representation.