A Special Agent

By: John Tecce

They may not be wearing blue and white anymore, but just like Joe Paterno, Jim Ivler wants players who strive for “success with honor”.

The son of a Penn State grad, Ivler was a freshman at Penn State in 1986 when the Lions won their second national championship. Some of his best Penn State football memories were made that season, like road-tripping to West Virginia and Notre Dame to watch Penn State continue their undefeated season and watching Penn State defeat heavily-favored #1 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. He graduated in 1990 and now represents NFL players for Sportstars Inc. , a New York City-based athlete management firm. Ivler’s reputation for being loyal to his alma mater is well-known amongst former Penn State players, and it has helped him continue to represent former Nittany Lions in the NFL.

Consistently choosing to pursue players coming out of Penn State requires a different type of agent. While other big-time schools like Ohio State and USC have more of an open-door policy towards the NFL, Penn State prefers to be more guarded in their approach towards the next level.

“Penn State goes about the NFL process differently than any other school,” Ivler told me. Joe Paterno, in fact, does not deal directly with agents at all, and players are encouraged to put aside the NFL discussion until the season is over. This does make the job of evaluating players tougher for NFL scouts and agents, but helps to prevent situations where improper contact and benefits can cause problems for the Penn State football program and for sometimes uneducated players.

Despite the obstacles, Ivler still prefers to represent players from Penn State.. “It means more emotionally because of my deep love for the school,” he said when asked why. He also acknowledged the tendency for Penn State players to be high-character and hard-working players.

The bond of blue and white is everywhere for Jim Ivler, and it has helped him in his quest to keep his professional roots in Happy Valley. The friendship between Tamba Hali and Deon Butler, two of his future clients, goes back to the start of fall practice in 2004, when Deon took the field as a walk-on freshman defensive back. According to Ivler, after the first week of practice, Hali told Butler that he should be a wide receiver. Five years later, Butler would become Penn State’s all-time leader in receptions. Now, both are in the midst of breakout seasons in the National Football League.

“It started with a couple other guys that I played on the team with, Robbie Gould and Tamba Hali,” said Deon Butler, now playing for the Seattle Seahawks, on how he chose Jim as his agent. “I just knew those are two guys who I respected so I knew that they would have someone good.”

When I spoke with him in July, Ivler told me that coming out of college he thought Butler would be the best pro out of Penn State’s wide receiver trio that included Derrick Williams (3rd round pick of Detroit in 2009) and Jordan Norwood (has played for Philadelphia and Cleveland). He assessed Butler to be a more polished route-runner and to possess a football IQ “wise beyond his years” in addition to his speed and quickness.

Ivler said that Deon’s work ethic and refusal to be told of his limitations have led him to become a starter and consistent producer in just his second year in the NFL. Following a great combine workout, where he displayed the speed and precision that Penn State fans came to love, Butler was drafted in the 3rd round by the Seattle Seahawks. After catching 15 balls for 175 yards as a rookie, Butler has emerged into one of Seattle’s top receivers. Now a starter, he has 23 catches for 246 yards and three touchdowns after Week 10 and has established himself as a legitimate threat for the division-leading Seahawks.

Butler is quickly playing his way into the type of player he knows Jim Ivler typically represents.

“The players that he represents have been in the league for a long time, make a lot of money, and are key contributors on their team,” Butler said. “It's kind of the same way I viewed myself at Penn State. I was a solid contributor and one of the key guys who had been there for a long time.”

Another one of Ivler’s players, former Nittany Lion All-American defensive end Tamba Hali entered his fifth NFL season coming off a career-high 8.5 sacks in 2009 following a position change from defensive end to outside linebacker. Hali has continued to establish himself as one of the top pass-rushers in the league, currently ranking fourth in the league in sacks with eight.

Ivler has also represented three members from the 2002 Nittany Lion squad in current Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, cornerback Rich Gardner, and former Bears 1st-round pick defensive end Michael Haynes. Gould, one of the highest-paid kickers in the league, has been the starting kicker for the Chicago Bears since 2005 and was an All-Pro and NFC Pro Bowler in 2006.