NCCU Law School Trio Provides a Play-by-Play Account of an NFL Experience of a Lifetime — Daniel Adams, Sorrell Saunders & Julian Cuthbertson

(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 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

researching player comparisons, and practicing opening statements, and rebuttals that were necessary to be successful for the negotiations.

We were judged on meeting our objective goals and earned subjective points based on the performance during the negotiation. This year, since the competition was over Zoom, an emphasis was placed on subjective judging rather than simply awarding points for reaching certain contract objectives. We were able to achieve all of our goals in every negotiation and control the conversation, which gave us an opportunity to progress through the competition.

Out of the wide field of teams, only eight advanced to day two. Nothing was more exciting than to see NCCU among the likes of Duke, Villanova, and UNC, to name a few, who advanced to the second day. Around 6:00 p.m. the night of the first day, the bracket was released for the final day, indicating NCCU’s advance to the next round. NCCU received the highest seeding in the triangle region, scoring better than Duke and UNC during the first day of the competition. After learning we had advanced to the quarterfinal round, we began preparation for our next opponent, Duke. We had less than 18 hours to prepare contracts, opening statements, player comparisons, and rebuttals for the following rounds—the quarterfinals, semifinals and the final negotiation. Each future round included a new client and a new set of confidential facts and objectives.

During the quarterfinal round against Duke, our hard work and preparation was rewarded. The judge praised our team for controlling the negotiation and gave us great examples of how to approach a real-life NFL contract negotiation. The judge was informative and gave us in depth advice that will help us after school, before offering his contact information to us. We had a total of ten minutes to incorporate the pointers from the previous round before a rematch with Maryland in the semifinal round. The semifinal round was a very close negotiation, but Maryland, the eventual champion, edged us out in subjective scoring. We felt that we did not perform to our standard of excellence, but overall we were grateful for the opportunity to compete and appreciative of the experience.

The most important aspect of the competitions was the fact that we were able to learn from and network with NFL front office personnel and NFL position coaches. We received contact information from representatives with the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys and others during the two-day competition. Even with this virtual format, we were able to make great professional connections that may be beneficial in the future.

This competition is an excellent experience for anyone interested in drafting contracts or working as an agent, or even just gaining negotiation experience in general. Making it to the second day was a prime goal of ours as we sought to establish our Negotiation Program’s reputation for professionalism and effectiveness. Moving forward, we understand that our unprecedented success has raised the bar of for the expectation for future NCCU teams that compete in this competition. We welcome the challenge to continue a tradition of success in this competition and we will work hard to improve our results next year.