The NFL Players Association is moving forward with what officials are calling an “aggressive” investigation focused on what led to New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith hiring Roc Nation’s Kim Miale as his agent.
Reports from ProFootballTalk.com indicate the NFLPA sent a letter of inquiry to Miale, who is with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, earlier this week.
Mike Florio with ProFootballTalk.com said there are questions about what role Jay-Z may or may not have played in recruiting Smith to sign with Miale for football contract negotiations.
Jay-Z, who started his career as a rapper, is not a certified agent. The allegation is he served as a “runner” to bring in Smith, though the former WVU quarterback did nothing wrong.
“The rule is clear: Unless you’re certified by the NFLPA, you can’t be involved in the recruitment of a player to sign with an agent for representation on his football contract,” Florio said on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Florio said there would be no issue if Smith had signed with Jay-Z for endorsements off the field.
However, “If you want to represent a player in his negotiations, for example in this case, Geno Smith with the Jets, you have to have NFLPA certification,” Florio said. “This becomes a problem when Jay-Z, who isn’t certified, has any role in recruiting Geno Smith to sign with a certified agent.
“He knew or should have known that he was stepping into yet another controversy and the question becomes, how many controversies do you want to have? How many controversies can you afford?”
Smith, the former Mountaineers quarterback, fired his former agents after being passed over in the first round of the NFL draft. The Jets made him the No. 39 overall pick in the second round.