Limited pursuit helped No Limit sign Williams
No Limit Sports knows something about limits, and that was a major reason why Heisman Trophy-winning running back Ricky Williams signed with the Baton Rouge-based sports agency Thursday afternoon.
"After I terminated my first agent a couple of weeks ago, people were calling me left and right," Williams said at a news conference at the Casino Rouge. "The phone was ringing off the hook. I got the feeling that people were just grabbing and pulling at me."
No Limit Sports' approach wasn't as direct as, say, ARliss, the HBO character.
"They didn't need me," Williams said. "They're a business. They didn't have to have me. But the people that stayed closet to my heart was No Limit Sports. These are the best people for me."
Williams is clearly the best-known client for No Limit SPorts, a budding player in the sports agent business.
"This is a great addition," said rap artist Master P, who was also at the news conference amid extraordinary security. "This will help us estbalish ourselves."
Master P, a Baton Rouge resident whose real name is Percy Miller, started No Limit Sports as well as No Limit Records.
Among No Limit Sports' clients are NBS first-round draft picks Ron Mercer of the Boston Celtics and Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but neither was the first player pciked. Williams is expected to be picked either first or second in the APril 17 NFL draft.
"I want to help build something and be a part of something great with No Limit," Williams said.
Williams also liked the fact that Miller grew up in one of New Orleans' worst housing projects and is now one of America's richest men with a multi-million yearly income, according to Forbes Magazine.
"Master P came from nowhere to get to the top," Williams said. "And I really respect that."
Obviously, Miller's numerous business interests do not need a percentage of Williams' projected multi-million dollar salary to survive.
"Just like Ricky said, this company doesn't need him," Miller siad. "We're already established in several areas. This company doesn't need athletes to finance it."
But Miller, who has reportedly divested himself from the sports agent end of his business, still recruited Williams.
The two first met at the national championship game in Phoenix last January.
"He just walked into my hotel room at the Fiesta Bowl," Williams said. "I was like, 'Oh my God, Master P's in my room!' I couldn't talk. I couldn't believe he was right there.
"Then I talked to him again a couple weeks ago."
Williams was first approached by No Limit Sports through Terry Rideau, one of the company's NFL scouts.
"I'm not an agent," said Master P, who made a CBA team last fall and plans to continue trying out for NBA teams. "I'm just another player like Ricky. I keep up with the family. I'm not working for the agent company anymore."
Tevester Scott, a Southern graduate who is the chief operating officer for No Limit Sports, ahs taken over Master P's role with the company.
"I'm Master P's agent," Scott said. "And I'm Ricky Williams' agent."
Williams said he signed with No Limit Sports despite much negative commentary about Master P.
"People are such haters," Williams explained. "A lot of them said, 'Don't do it. Don't do it.' But people think Master P will be across from the NFL people when we're talking contract. That's not how it's going to be. He's not an attorney. He's not an agent. He's a business man.
"I would talk to other agents who wanted me and I'd ask them, 'Did you makes as much money as Master P last year?' And no one could say they did."
Williams, who is the all-time NCAA Division I-A leading rusher with 6,279 yards, thinks he should command No. 1 pick money come April. Cleveland has the first pick.
"I want to go No. 1, and I think I deserve it," Williams said. "But we'll see what Cleveland thinks. If I'm notm I'll deel cheated a little bit."
Williams, who played minor league baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies orqanization in between football seasons, wants to continue playing baseball.
"I'll pursue baseball in the future, but it's not feasible for me to do that this year," he said.
