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Former Vol football player Derek Furlow explains his SLB agency.
Former Vol football player Derrick Furlow explains his mental health-focused sports agency, SLL, to student-athletes traveling the NFL.
Brianna Paciorka, Knoxville News-Sentinel
Student athletes are some of the fastest and toughest people around, but behind the strength and public persona are complex human emotions and real-life struggles – whether these on-field heroes like to admit it or not.
Stress and anxiety are not weaknesses. Former Vols football player Derek Furlow Jr He told Knox News, and with his specialty, he’s working to break that stigma. Name, image and likeness Discounts Between student athletes and mental health organizations.
SportsLife Business, Furlow’s authorship and publicity brand, has expanded with SLB Agency. In this new age of NEIL to connect with student-athletes, Furlough is recruiting former Vols visitors who have had their own unique mental health struggles at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
SLB agency works with athletes All types of NIL dealsNot only with mental health companies. Furlow said these deals can range from large player payouts to smaller exchanges.
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“Every day, people watch athletes,” Furlow said. “(These Niel deals) make it good for the everyday person to realize: ‘Hey, I’m going through something, I’m going through something. Maybe I should go get help.'”
Student athletes receive NIL deals
Of course, money can’t buy happiness, and former Lady Vols star Alexis Hornbuckle is careful to separate a one-off from her regular struggles with anxiety and depression.
“No, money will never make all of your mental health problems go away,” said Hornbuckle, who serves as an ambassador for the SLB Agency. “Maybe the stress doesn’t come on as hard or as fast, but it can be strong.”
Alexander Johnson He wasn’t a part-time student or a part-time athlete; He worked full time on both. Although he was a linebacker from 2011 to 2014, he remembers taking out loans just to pay for food and gas.
“One of the biggest things I noticed when I was in college was my family went to buy 45 jerseys and they couldn’t even get a jersey — it was sold out,” he told Knox News, fighting back tears. “I know a lot of people are getting paid … to come to school. What this means is that the school is bringing in billions from these students — billions behind my back.”
After finishing last season with the Denver Broncos, Johnson is an NFL free agent. He also plans to become an SLB agent and is on track to become the first athlete to sign himself to the agency.
“I’m glad he was able to bring it to me just because I’ve been (furloughed), I’ve experienced it,” he said. “And it just touched my heart to know that I beat this thing, and now I can help other kids or students and say, ‘You can beat this.'”
How the VFL chose to focus on mental health
The agency’s mental health focus was less relaxed. furlough, A Knox News 40 Under 40 recipient in 2021; He was working with a local media agency before refocusing to start up. Ketamine media.
The company “works by meeting and connecting with individuals who are interested in finding new treatments for mental health care,” he said. February news release.
Through Ketamine Media’s work and relationship with Furlow, SLB has access to a network of mental health providers.
Furlow believes that acquiring athletes as agents and ambassadors will be key to the success of his business, which relies on commission work from NIL deals as payment.
“SLB is an agency for the athlete, by the athlete,” he said. “One of the biggest things I want to do is create a platform where athletes can get representation of guys who have been there, done it and lived it.
“So now, these new student-athletes who get NIL deals, they’re not just dealing with somebody who went to law school who didn’t play their particular sport, who they have no connection or common ground with.”
While not every agent or ambassador holds a sports management degree, former student-athletes go through state protocols to get certified, Furlow said.
NIL relationships must be real
SLB will begin working with “homegrown” athletes in Knoxville before expanding to other markets, Furlow said. Company ambassadors have a smaller time commitment than agents, although agents can work full-time jobs with commission jobs.
For example, Johnson plans to get certified as an agent in the city where he signed to play football.
“You just become that middle man, and you’re not always on the phone, but you’re building a real relationship with them,” Furlow said. But that’s what we (as ex-athletes) do… We shouldn’t have gone out of our way to do something different. We didn’t have an agency that said we worked.
Student athletes have two ways to market themselves: through their performance on the field or through their character, Furlow said.
Next, Furlow is helping athletes connect with nonprofit organizations to help them give back to the community, build their brand on social media, and showcase their identity. This kind of work will help them to use NIL agreements in future, he said.
Jackie Pearl, daughter of former Vols basketball coach Bruce Pearl, will lead SLB’s nonprofit division, Furlow said.
“In the locker room, (athletes) you’re very close,” Hornbuckle said First player to win NCAA and WNBA titles in the same season. “(Former athletes) have been in there or we’re in the process or we can link to those sources.”
But only athletes who use it – you don’t feel like you have to go out because if you’ve never been one, there’s no way you can understand the mind of an athlete.
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