Neil's brief primer:
Anthony grew up in a football family. His dad played at Louisville, and his whole family -- from his brothers to his grandparents -- "just worship(s) football." As college football was his passion, he grew up wanting to do something in the game. After playing one season at Mount St. Joseph, he transferred to Cincinnati.  While in college, he helped coach at his high school, but decided he didn't want to teach, so he made a deal with his dad to attend law school. It was then that his brother began getting recruited heavily, eventually signing with Kentucky, so Anthony decided to attend law school there. Shortly afterward, he decided to get certified, and he took the exam last summer.
Active NFL clients:
Chargers DT Cortez Broughton (Cincinnati) was selected in the seventh round(242 overall), while the Giants signed Kentucky TE C.J. Conrad and thePatriots signed New Mexico DC D'Angelo Ross as UDFAs.
Why did he become an agent?:
"Because of my interests in football and my interests in business. All of my interests aligned."
Day job:
Anthony handles the business side of the safety equipment company owned by his father and uncle.
His take on the NFLPA exam:
"I did not think the NFLPA exam was that bad. Without Neil's help, it would have been way harder than it was. I studied harder for the NFLPA exam than anything I ever have before. There were questions from the seminar that were not in the materials, though."
Hardest part of being an agent:
"Waiting until draft day to see how you did. You could end up being really good or really terrible. And (the other) hard part is you have to wait a whole year to improve your results. There is a lot of pressure and a lot of stress that comes with being an agent, and it takes a lot of time to see results."
He felt like he'd had a successful first year as a contract advisor when:
. . ." I am neutral on my first year. I did not feel that I did good or bad. I love this job so much, but it is too early to measure success. I am a competitively driven person, so right now, I am not satisfied with where I am at, but I do acknowledge what I was able to accomplish in my first year."
Lesson he learned that he wished he'd known last summer:
"Just because you have multiple conversations with potential clients doesn't guarantee anything. These athletes are 21, 22, 23 years old, and have a lot of people in their ears. Things can change in an instant. Do not count on anyone until they are signed and locked in."
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Neil Stratton
