The NFL Players Association is set to investigate Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports to see if they violated any rules when they recruited New York Jets rookie QB Geon Smith.
The new sports management company started by Jay-Z has made news lately by signing New York Yankees Robinson Cano, New York Giants WR Victor Cruz and Smith. Now they are making news for all the wrong reasons.
Specifically, the NFLPA is investigating whether Jay-Z was involved in the recruiting of Smith to Roc Nation Sports. Since Jay-Z is not NFLPA certified, he would not be allowed to be a part of the recruiting process per NFLPA rules. At the heart of the inquiry is an Instagram photo posted by Smith that shows him and Jay-Z together.
This is not a good look for Jay-Z, Smith or the Jets.
If the NFLPA finds any wrongdoing, Smith will not be disciplined as he didn’t do anything wrong. However, given his rocky start in the NFL so far, this is not something he needs right now. Some people are already expecting him to be a bust and at least one NFL insider has dubbed him The Black Ryan Leaf.
For the Jets, this is just another sideshow in the circus they have become over the last season. Nothing will happen to them, but I’m pretty sure they are tired of all the bad press they have been getting lately.
The person who has the most to lose is Jay-Z. It is unclear what kind of punishment the NFLPA would put on Jay-Z if he is found guilty. The league has been known to hand out some pretty heavy handed punishment, just ask Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints.
It has been reported that Jay-Z is trying to get NFLPA-certified. It would be difficult for him to get that certification because the NFLPA requires their certified agents to have Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. It would appear that Jay-Z has neither of those. With this scandal brewing, it makes it less likely that he will get certified.
The worst case scenario for Jay-Z is that Roc Nation Sports gets decertified by the NFLPA and can no longer sign football players. This would be a big blow to him and the company. It remains to be seen how aggressively the NFLPA will pursue this matter but sources are saying that they are taking this infraction very seriously.
Could this be the one venture Jay-Z fails at?
