The Tampa Tribune du lieu suivant : Tampa, Florida • 162

pi 1 Send comments and tips through e-mail to: sportstampatrib.com PAUL C. SMITH, Senior Editor for Sports, (813) 259-7753 Sports fax. (813) 259-8148 The Tampa Tribune arta main or MIL MS 8 June 13, 1999 A Sa Both terms have been applied to sports agent William "Tank" Black, who is as revered elsewhere as he is reviled in Gainesville. By JOEY KNIGHT of The Tampa Tribune GAINESVILLE She readily admits it, just like former University of Florida star Johnny Rutledge recently did. Bettye McCall has in fact received cash or at least a cash pledge from sports agent William "Tank" Black.

Over the next few months, McCall expects to rake in 300,000 smackers from Black, considerably more than the $500 monthly payout Rutledge alleges he accepted while he still played for the Gators. Strange thing is, there are no red flags make that Black flags to be raised amid all of McCall's green. The money is going toward the construction of an emergency shelter for abused and neglected children in Columbia, S.C. "There's a real need here that Tank Black recognized," said McCall, executive director of the shelter. The alleged handouts to Rutledge, however, aren't quite so noble.

Rutledge said he received the money while he still played for the Gators, presumably in exchange for signing with Black after his senior season. In Florida, such payments constitute illegal agent activity. If McCall and Rutledge were the only two figures in this story, it still, would be baffling. But there are many others, and depending on whom you speak to, Black is either a philanthropist or a felon. 7 i Photo from The State, Columbia, S.C.

UlJIi tion." And you thought Jason Wil- I liams was the most enigmatic sports figure to descend on Gainesville in recent years. Hardly. Meet Tank Black, chairman and CEO of Professional Management and a father of two. A man associated with good causes and controversies. HE MAY BE the nation's most successful African-American sports agent, and his lawyer insists that's why he recently has been in the news more than any of the 35 current and former NFL players he represents.

Less successful agents saw five players taken in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft among Black's clientele, and they seethed, Detroit-based attorney Leonard Mungo said. They saw a 42-year-old black man with a virtual monopoly on UF's draft-eligible players over the last three years, and were in the ongoing investigation has inflicted a Black eye on Florida's football program and made the agent and players in question persona non Gator in Gainesville. "Any player who took money is going to forfeit all the benefits of being a Gator," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "And thaf something money can't buy." NFLPA general counsel Richard Berthelsen, whose group licenses its players' agents, directs his resentment more toward the agents. "I don't envy any agent," he said.

"I'd never want to be an agent, and the life they have to lead is one I'd not want to be involved in." Some Columbia residents would them, Black's is a wonderful life. And a selfless one. Three sports agents have been or are being investigated by University of Florida police and other authorities: William "Tank" Black Based out of Columbia, S.C, Black is being investigated by UF police and the NFL Players Association for possible illegal agent activity. The NFLPA already filed a Disciplinary Complaint in mid-May against Black for allegedly providing improper cash payments in 1997 and '98 to college players before their eligibility expired. Black, who has at least 30 days to respond to the complaint, still represents five former Gators currently in the NFL, but was fired by four ex-UF players taken in the 1999 NFL Draft David Canter Based out of Miami, Canter is being investigated by UF police and the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation for allegedly purchasing a block of Miami hotel rooms for the family of former Gators comerback Tony George during the week of the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Among Canter's clients are George and former Gators Teako Brown and Mike Peterson, one of the four players who fired Black. Sean Alfortish University police have filed a sworn complaint against Alfortish, charging him with one count of unlicensed agent activity. Alfortish, based out of Louisiana, allegedly sent money during the 1998 football season to tfje former roommate of Florida players Tim Beauchamp and Dock Pollard, who in turn gave the money to the players. The roommate, as well as another employee of Alfortish, also were charged, and the two players were dismissed from the team in December. i The truth is being twisted A FORMER SMALL-COLLEGE All-American SO wideout Black is as loved in parts of South Carolina as he is loathed in -Gainesville.

Fact is, long censed. "They can't stand that," Mungo said. So they orchestrated a "witch hunt" to put Black's South Carolina-based sports management company out of business, Mungo added. The sweetest slice of Black's philanthropic pie, however, was saved for McCall. Some time next year, the Palmetto Place Children's Emergency Shelter will move into the Susie B.

Black Center, named in honor of the agent's grandmother who raised him after his parents separated. When it opens, McCall won't have to turn another child away, which she has had to do far too often in the past With room for 48 abused andor neglected kids, the new building should be able to accommodate every needy kid in the custody of the state's child and protective services. Try telling McCall or one of her tenants that Black is a crook. Souder doesn't believe it, either. "He's just the sweetest man and does so much for us," she said.

"We were just really surprised by the allegations. We're sure things are going to turn out the right way and we're giving him the benefit of the doubt" In return, he gives them a pair of Super Bowl tickets for use as golf tournament door prizes. They always said Black had heart THAT'S THE ONE attribute David Barger remembers most vividly. The current athletic director and former sports information director at Carson-Newman College in east Tennessee, Barger recalls Black as a fleet wideout who sported a small frame (5-foot-ll) and huge numbers. Before leaving the NAIA school, with a degree in business administration, Black would catch 209 passes in four seasons.

"He was probably too small to be the kind of player that he turned out to be," Barger recalled. "A great heart" Such stats led Black to a free-agent tryout with the Atlanta Falcons, which didn't pan out (he's not listed on the Falcons' all-time roster). After eight years as a college assistant he opened PMI, described as a "state-of-the-art operation" by Mungo, in Columbia in 1988. PMI isn't a publicly traded corporation, and annual reports weren't immediately available from the South poorly that it's just amazing. People are saying all kinds of things about me and they don't even know who I am.

before the current allegations of wrongdoing surfaced, Black had a worthwhile cross to bear. Thing is, as this particu- An American Red lar hunt progressed, the Cross. The fourth annual supply of ammunition PMI-Wachovia Celebrity Golf Event is slated for William "Tank" Black against Black in later this summer, with all proceeds going to the ARC's Central South Carolina chapter. Red Cross officials expect the event, annually its biggest fundraiser, to generate roughly $60,000 for its organization this year. Participants get a chance to play with NFL players, most of whom are Black clients.

"He came to us actually, and he wanted to start doing some things for the community," said Libby Souder, the chapter's director of marketing and communications. "It was like four years ago. It was all his connections that made this tournament come to frui creased. As a result, Black is being investigated by UF police and the NFL Players Association, whose lawyer insists he is "100 percent" certain he has substantial evidence Black has given money to college players in more than one state over the last two years. Black didn't immediately respond to an interview request for this story, but told The Associated Press on Thursday he has done nothing illegal.

"Nobody has ever accused me of breaking any kind of rule until now," he said. "The truth is being twisted so poorly that it's just amazing. People are saying all kinds of things about me and they don't even know who I am." Rutledge and former Gator teammate Jevon Kearse have alleged in sworn affidavits they accepted cash from Black while they had college eligibility remaining. Rutledge made his admission public earlier this month, and also implicated ex-Gators defensive tackle Reggie McGrew. Then, documents obtained from the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles showed Kearse owned a $133,500 luxury car purchased by Black as of Dec.

31, two days before he played his last game as a Gator in the Orange Bowl. Recent evidence, however, suggests Kearse got the car days later. The car's salesperson said Black wired the payment for the car on New Year's Eve, but it wasn't driven off the lot until Jan. 3. The salesperson added an odometer disclosure statement dated Dec.

31 wasn't signed by Kearse until he applied for a Florida tag in mid-January. Other records show Kearse signed for a loan of $140,738 from a Columbia bank on Jan. 4. Regardless, Carolina Department of Revenue. But a National Corporations Comprehensive Report lists the company as being "in good standing." Among Black's clientele before the current investigation were eight former Gators, as well as NBA Rookie of the Year Vince Carter of Daytona Beach.

All eight ex-Gators either refused to comment or couldn't be reached for this story. Four of them including Kearse, Rutledge and McGrew have since fired Black, but he still represents current Buccaneer wideouts Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green. "I like Tank, I've always liked dealing with him," said Bucs general manager Rich McKay, who has dealt with Black while negotiating the contracts of Green and Anthony. "He's easy to deal with because he's well researched. He gets right to the point" So does former University of Tennessee linebacker Al Wilson, another Black client and 1999 first-round draftee.

Echoing the sentiments of Mungo, and perhaps others, Wilson recently said in a published report he also feels the investigation of his agent is racially motivated. The merit of such an accusation won't become clear until all the evidence is laid out and that could take months. Investigators continue to follow a paper trail of evidence that has nothing to do with being black or white, but green. Lots of green. "When you've got a black man that has five or six first-rounders, a lot of things come up," Wilson said.

"If this had been rival agent Leigh Steinberg, nothing would have come up. It just doesn't make any sense. If Tank had been a white man, you wouldn't have heard a word." THE RULES REGARDING AGENTS According to the NCAA: NCAA bylaw 12.3.1 states, "An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an Intercollegiate sport If he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation In that sport." A subsection of the bylaw states, "An individual shall be Ineligible If he or she (or his or her relatives or friends) accepts transportation or other benefits from: (a) Any person who represents any individual In the marketing of his or her athletics ability or (b) an agent." Name: William "Tank" Black. Bom: March 11, 1957. Hometown: Greenville, Tenn.

Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Professional Management Columbia, S.C. Wife: Charlotte M. Freeman. Children: Jeremy Lamar (12), Shayla Monique (9). Education: B.A., business administration, Carson-Newman College (Jefferson City, Playing career: Carson-Newman, 1975-78 (wide receiver); free-agent tryout with Atlanta Falcons, 1979.

Coaching careen Assistant, Tennessee-Chattanooga (1980-82); assistant, South Carolina (198347). Community Involvement: Board of Trustees First Northeast Baptist Church, Columbia, S.C; Board of Directors Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary, Columbia: United States Olympic Committee, South Carolina Chapter; South Carolina Business Network; South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame; American Red Cross, Central South Carolina Chapter: Vice Chairman NAACP, Columbia Chapter. Joey Knight According to the state of Florida: Chapter 468, Part IX of the Florida Statutes Includes a variety of rules and restrictions Including those mandated by the NCAA for athletic agents. The statutes can be retrieved online at www.leg stattH.us.

Illegal agent activity is a felony In Florida, punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. "I ft ilrt VJ iWl it ilPWi.