OREM — Loving his rags-to-potential-riches backstory, penchant for causing turnovers and prowess on special teams, several high-profile sports agents and agencies hit up BYU defensive back Dayan Ghanwoloku recently. They wanted to represent the native-born Liberian in the 2020 National Football League draft.
But Ghanwoloku chose fellow BYU graduate Evan Brennan, a relatively unknown and low-key agent who has carved out a nice living for himself and his Orem family of four by finding high-character guys and diamonds in the rough such as Ghanwoloku, who probably won’t be drafted, and getting them shots in the NFL anyway.
Brennan isn’t going to go around screaming “Show me the money!” like Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. did in the sports-agent movie “Jerry Maguire.” But he is going to give his guys a lot of personal attention, and that appealed to Ghanwoloku.
“At the end of the day, I needed somebody who was going to be focused on me. Because if you look at the big agencies, it is like you are one of their little guys and they are focusing on all their main dudes,” Ghanwoloku said. “Evan is a hard worker. He hustles. We mesh well, because I will hustle, too, if I know my agent is doing his thing and getting me the exposure I need. He just did that. He was the best fit for me.”
So who is this guy who represents a handful of local NFL draft prospects every year?
“He’s just real and honest,” said BYU receiver and punt returner extraordinaire Aleva Hifo, another of Brennan’s clients, along with BYU tight end Moroni Laulu-Pututau and Weber State defensive end Jonah Williams. “He always keeps it real with me — telling me what teams want, what teams don’t want. He’s been with me from the beginning of fall camp last season.”
“I will represent anyone from anywhere as long as I believe there is real NFL interest in them. I don’t sign a million guys. I have had to really fight and be aggressive to find players NFL teams like that mesh well with what I am all about. … If the NFL likes you and you are a good dude, I will represent you.” — Orem-based sports agent Evan Brennan
A few BYU players Brennan has represented over the years stuck around the league for awhile, including rugby star-turned RB Paul Lasike and offensive lineman De’Ondre Wesley.
His current client list isn’t full of big names, but it is substantial nevertheless with more than 20 throughout the league. Brennan currently represents Indianapolis Colts long snapper Luke Rhodes, who he refers to as “the highest-paid long snapper in NFL history,” and offensive guard Andrew Wylie of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Rhodes played at William & Mary, Wylie at Eastern Michigan.
He’s also got Los Angeles Rams tight end Johnny Mundt (Oregon) and punt returner Nsimba Webster (Eastern Washington) and Minnesota Vikings running back Mike Boone (Cincinnati), among others.
He only represents football players, he said, because of the expertise required to negotiate contracts and deal with front offices in the NFL.
“I will represent anyone from anywhere as long as I believe there is real NFL interest in them,” he said. “I don’t sign a million guys. I have had to really fight and be aggressive to find players NFL teams like that mesh well with what I am all about. … If the NFL likes you and you are a good dude, I will represent you.”
Brennan also represents college and pro coaches, including Virginia offensive coordinator Robert Anae. The former BYU player and assistant coach and Brennan’s father were missionary companions in Oklahoma decades ago.
How it started
Brennan grew up in Santa Margarita, California, not wanting to be a sports agent, but a ball player, having tried every sport imaginable at his high school. After graduating from BYU with a degree in business management, he got his master’s degree in sports business management at Long Beach State and then moved on to law school at Chapman University to become an attorney like his father, Sterling Brennan, who is currently a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lansing, Michigan.
Evan Brennan had several friends on BYU’s football team during his time in Provo, including standout defensive back Brandon Bradley, and found himself tutoring players, as well as giving advice to those who were exploring pro football.
“It kinda dawned on me that, ‘Hey, you are helping these guys out, and they are your peers. Why not just do it for real,” he said.
Brennan met and married former Timpview High basketball star Megan Callahan while they were at BYU, and he juggled grad school, law school and his growing sports agency responsibilities in California before returning to Utah County in 2016.
Can someone make a decent living doing this?
Although sports agents generally receive between 4% and 10% of their athletes’ playing contracts, and 10% to 20% of an athletes’ endorsement contract, according to Chron.com, NFL agents are not permitted to receive more than 3% of their clients’ playing contracts due to NFLPA rules.
Brennan said there are about 800 registered sports agents, but only 100 or so are making money.
“It is very difficult to make a living at this, but it is possible,” he said. “There are a lot of overhead costs. There is a lot of investment required. Unless you come in with a massive amount of capital, or are very, very judicious and make very smart business moves, it is a tough business. … I have been very fortunate. I have been able to represent some very highly paid players and have done decently.”
All in a day’s work
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has grounded him lately, but Brennan spends a lot of time traveling, especially in the fall when games are going on. He visits his clients and the front office personnel of the teams for which they play, but also checks out college games scouting for off-the-radar guys such as Weber State’s Williams.
“Last year, from July to January, I did not spend seven straight days in the state of Utah without leaving,” he said. “It takes a really supportive spouse. That is part of the business; if you want to be successful at it, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.”
“Last year, from July to January, I did not spend seven straight days in the state of Utah without leaving. It takes a really supportive spouse. That is part of the business; if you want to be successful at it, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.” — Evan Brennan
Last Thursday, Brennan had spoken with 15 NFL teams and had engineered the signing of two new contracts, all before a 3 p.m. newspaper interview. Yet, he says negotiating contracts — made famous in the aforementioned movie from 1996 — takes up less than 10% of his time.
“What I mostly do on a daily basis is talk to teams and get information on how my veterans are doing, and then getting them information on potential rookies,” he said. “The last three or four months it has been about getting information about the players I represent and how they look, what their draft stock may be, answering questions that NFL teams still have on them, whether it be medical, or whether it be about their character, etc. … And then I keep in close contact with my players, conveying what their stock is or is not.”
As can be expected, Brennan will monitor all three days of the draft, with television sets tuned to ESPN and the NFL Network, several laptops running nonstop, and a couple cell phones buzzing with texts almost constantly.
“As an agent, you can help your guys a little bit by convincing teams that if they don’t move on a guy in the draft, someone else will. There is a little bit of poker, as far as that goes.”
For agents such as Brennan, a lot of work begins the second the draft ends as teams start signing undrafted free agents and making invitations to minicamps.
“Most of the deals after the draft are done in about 15 or 20 minutes,” he said. “So you really have to do a lot of homework. A lot of what I am doing right now is prepping my players about what depth charts look like and where they should or should not go, if they aren’t drafted. I try to tell them which teams have which players above them, which teams might have vulnerable players at their positions that they might be able to beat out.”
Because eventually, Brennan wants to say he got the job done. He showed them the money.
•. • •
A few of Utah sports agent Evan Brennan’s 20 NFL clients
• Indianapolis Colts long snapper Luke Rhodes (William & Mary)
• Kansas City Chiefs guard Andrew Wylie (Eastern Michigan)
• Los Angeles Rams tight end Johnny Mundt (Oregon)
• Minnesota Vikings running back Mike Boone (Cincinnati)
• Los Angeles Rams punt returner Nsimba Webster (Eastern Washington)