Eugene E. Parker

Eugene Parker, born February 24, 1956, is the sports agent of Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, and many other NFL athletes. He has been named by Black Enterprise Magazines top 50 influential blacks in sports. Parker was also ranked 45 in the Sports Illustrated list of the top 101 most influential minorities in sports. [cite news
work = Sports Illustrated
date = 2003-05-03
title = New World Order: After years of battling for fair opportunities, people of color are finally running the show (in some places) and driving the economics in sports
url = http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/2003/new_world_order/1_20/
accessdate = 2007-04-16 ]

Biography

Parker graduated from Purdue University in 1978, and graduated from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1982.Fact|date=April 2007

When Parker was an undergrad student at Purdue University he studied law. He was also a four-year starter on the Purdue men’s basketball team where he scored 1,430 career points. He was a team captain for two years where he earned all big ten awards, and most valuable player awards. [cite web
url=http://www.hoopshall.com/inductees/2001/parker.html
title = Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame - Eugene Parker
accessdate = 2007-04-16] After his college career, Parker was drafted in the late rounds of the NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs. [cite web
url = http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAS/draft.html
title = San Antonio Spurs Draft History
work = Basketball-Reference.com
accessdate = 2007-04-17] He turned down the NBA ranks to take a graduate assist coaching job at Valparaiso University while he earned a law degree. Parker then went on to found his company, Maximum Sports Management. His early signings included NFL All-Pro defensive players Rod Woodson and Deion Sanders.Fact|date=April 2007 In 1995, Parker negotiated Deion Sanders' lucrative seven year, 35 million dollar contract, with a 13 million dollar signing bonus, which made Sanders the highest paid defensive player in the NFL at that time.Fact|date=April 2007 After the Sanders signing, the NFL established the "Deion Rule," which prevents rookies from deferring a large part of their salaries in favor of a signing bonus. [cite news
first = Andy
last = Hemmer
title = 'Prime Time' rewrote the rules
work = Cincinnati Business Courier
url = http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/1997/09/08/newscolumn3.html
date = 1997-09-05
accessdate = 2007-04-16] According to the Cincinnati Business Courier, "In plain English, it means Sanders and his agent, Eugene Parker, are every bit as good -- if not better -- than the reigning kings of salary cap circumvention, the San Francisco 49ers." In 2004 he negotiated a six year deal worth $60 million for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, making Larry the highest paid rookie in the NFL ever.Fact|date=April 2007

Clients

Some of Parker's clients include:

*Hines Ward (Super Bowl XL MVP and four-time Pro Bowler)
*Richard Seymour (4 time all pro)
*Walter Jones (5 time all pro)
*Emmitt Smith (NFL all time leading rusher)
*Larry Fitzgerald (All pro)
*Derrick Brooks (9 time all pro)
*Rod Woodson (11 time all pro)
*Aeneas Williams (8 time all pro)
*Rex Grossman (Super Bowl QB)
*Devin Hester (NFL record holder, all pro)
*Cedric Benson (Super Bowl running back)
*Curtis Martin (5 time all pro)
*Laveranues Coles (all pro receiver)
*Jason Peters (all pro left tackle)
*James Hardy (Bills 2008 2nd Round Draft Pick)
*Felix Jones (Cowboys 2008 1st Round Draft Pick]
*Tashard Choice (Cowboys 2008 3rd Round Draft Pick)
*Steven Jackson (St. Louis Rams star running back)

On August 21st, Steven Jackson ended his holdout.On Friday, September 5th, 2 days before the Bills regular season start, Jason Peters ended his holdout. [http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80a24f1b&template=with-video&confirm=true] [http://blogs.nfl.com/2008/09/05/pro-bowl-lt-peters-to-report-to-bills/]

References

External links

* [http://bigten.cstv.com/genrel/022707aaa.html] , retrieved April 16, 2007