The NFL is a cutthroat business. A player’s career can change in the blink of an eye. Just because you’re here today doesn’t mean you will be tomorrow.
It’s the same for any coach, executive, or agent.
There are more than 850 agents certified by the NFL Players Association. But the reality of the business is much more exclusive: roughly 75% of NFL players are represented by a small cluster of agents – about 17% of the pool.
They’re known as “super agents.” Among them is Brett Tessler, whose rise didn’t follow any familiar script.
He told me, “I’m a guy who failed the seventh grade and graduated with the second-lowest GPA in my high school.”
But he never stopped believing in himself.
Today, Tessler has negotiated over 600 NFL contracts in his 28-year career. He has worked with running back Raheem Mostert, kicker Greg Joseph, and many others around the league.
Before the 2026 NFL Draft, I was fortunate enough to ask Brett a few questions. In our interview, he shared:
- How he got his start
- Whether Jerry Maguire and Ballers are accurate depictions of NFL agents
- What the average NFL fan doesn’t understand about contract negotiations
You mentioned that you failed the seventh grade and graduated with the second-lowest GPA in your high school. How did you overcome that to get your foot in the door with the NFLPA?
Despite the fact that school clearly wasn’t my thing early on, I never lacked confidence in myself or my abilities. Academically, I was certainly a late bloomer and paid my dues at a smaller college before transferring to Purdue University and graduating with excellent grades.
As fate would have it, while I was there, I also met and became friendly with a talented player who ended up becoming my first ever client. I then went through the NFLPA certification process, and here we are now, 28 years and over 600 NFL contracts later!
As someone who didn’t play the sport you currently work in, what advice would you give to other people who may not have an athletic background but dream of working in sports?
It’s funny, football is probably the only sport (besides hockey) that I never played at an organized level. I guess the old saying that you don’t need to have a heart attack to become a heart surgeon is accurate.
Regardless of whether I had the size or skillset to play it or not, football was always the sport that I was the most knowledgeable and passionate about.
Bottom line is, I wanted to do this from a very young age, and nothing was going to get in my way of pursuing it!
I’d love to know more about how you built your business. After you started out working with Mike Alstott, how did you grow your client base from there?
Like any great opportunity in life, when you get your shot, you’d better figure out a way to make it work.
In my case, trying to establish myself in such a competitive business during a time when information was hard to come by definitely made things more challenging. Fortunately, I was able to form some valuable relationships in the industry, which really helped me survive.
Resourcefulness is probably my greatest strength. Once I started proving myself by doing great work for Mike, he then recommended me to some of his younger teammates, who then recommended me to some of their younger teammates, and things kind of took off from there.
I’ve always been curious if what we see in movies like Jerry Maguire and shows like Ballers is anywhere close to reality. What’s your process like for landing a new client? When does the conversation start, and what is your “pitch” to them?
Like many things in Hollywood, a lot of it is realistic, but plenty of it also gets exaggerated for entertainment purposes. Jerry Maguire came out right as I was getting started, so to see Tom Cruise glamorizing the industry was pretty cool, but it also created a little more competition by inspiring a generation of young sports fans to try and pursue their dreams of becoming agents.
In regard to recruiting, I’ve always taken an honest and straightforward approach of letting guys know exactly what they can expect from me as well as what I expect from them. If we share the same visions and goals, it often ends up being a successful relationship.
What is one thing the average NFL fan doesn’t understand about contract negotiations?
It’s way more complex than most fans who follow this stuff realize. While the contracts themselves are mostly standard form, there are so many little details that go into determining whether a deal truly ends up being good for the player or not.
In fact, when many of the initial numbers get leaked to the media, it can very often make a bad deal look good and vice versa.
When you look at your own path, or even some of the players you’ve worked with (like Raheem Mostert), what do you think it is about certain people that allows them to overcome the odds and succeed despite being overlooked?
Clearly, many of my clients and I seem to have a lot in common as it relates to sharing an underdog mentality. I believe the harder you have to work for something, the less likely you are to ever take it for granted.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Tom Brady was taken in the 6th round, Michael Jordan didn’t initially make his HS varsity basketball team, Jokic was taken in the last round of the NBA Draft, and several NFL Hall of Famers weren’t drafted at all.
That feeling of disrespect sticks with you, and it’s what drove these guys to become the insane competitors and champions we know them as today. For me, I’ve always surrounded myself with people who are much more successful than I am, so I can constantly try to learn something new and stay inspired.
It’s also important to have people in your corner who support and encourage you, but will also give you brutal honesty and tough love when you need it. But most importantly, never stop believing in yourself!
Thank you for your time, Brett! How can our readers support you, your work, or any causes you care about?
My pleasure! If you want to keep up with me, follow me on X or Insta @tesslersports.
Editor’s Note: A big thanks to Brett for his time and for sharing his story with us. Go follow his work on social media!
