STUDENTSCOMPETING ON THE NATIONAL STAGE
(LEFT TO RIGHT) JULIAN CUTHBERTSON, SORRELL SAUNDERS AND DANIEL ADAMS
NCCU Law School Trio Provides a Play-by-Play Account of an NFL Experience of a Lifetime BY DANIEL ADAMS, SORRELL SAUNDERS, JULIAN CUTHBERTSON
This year’s Tulane Professional Football Negotiation Competition (TPFNC) included more than thirty teams who negotiated virtually from across the nation. The competition was student-led, therefore, we had to coordinate with Tulane School of Law students to plan where and how to conduct the negotiations and review and submit any material questions. Competing in the TPFNC provided the closest experience to actual, real-world negotiation scenarios, particularly within the industry that we so dearly love. We negotiated a series of three player contracts: Dak Prescott (QB), Allen Robinson (WR) and Richard Sherman (CB). Throughout the three rounds, we alternately represented both the team and the player. In the first round, we negotiated against Southern 54
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University as Dak Prescott’s agent. After a short break, we rejoined to face Maryland University in the second round as the San Francisco 49ers organization. We finished our first day, facing Oxford Ohio’s Miami University as the Chicago Bears organization. We encountered judges who were a part of the front office staff from NFL organizations like the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. The competition provided us with a platform to practice both the skills acquired during our time in law school and our outside-theclassroom knowledge of football. Negotiation theories and tactics which were introduced to us in our negotiation course taught by our coach, Professor Jeff Carmon, were vital to our success at the competition. We enjoyed an advantage this year as compared with previous NCCU teams because we had a member on the team who had previously competed in the competition, coupled with the guidance from our coach. Also, the help of previous team members, attorneys Hashim Sbaiti and Sean Odom, provided us with several opportunities to practice our negotiation skills prior to the competition. Mr. Sbaiti and Mr. Odom, both alumni of NCCU School of Law, displayed their dedication to the Law School and the NCCU’s negotiation team by assisting multiple nights after completing their work day. The competition was in January, but we started our preparation in September. We spent countless hours
