Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1462941
A P R I L 2 0 2 2 6 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Mississinawa Valley High was off the grid, a tiny school surrounded by acres of farmland — so much farmland that during one of Enis's games, a neighbor plowed up a dust cloud so thick that play had to be halted. Despite the school's small size, Enis was heavily recruited. He chose the Nit- tany Lions over Michigan and Indiana, and after spending a year at Kiski Prep to get his grades up, he joined the Lions as one of the most coveted prospects in their 1995 recruiting class. Once he got to campus, Enis quickly showed what the buzz was all about. After starting out his career at line- backer, he was switched to offense early in his freshman year to strengthen an injury-depleted backfield. He gained 683 yards on only 113 carries, topping veteran Mike Archie (512 yards) for the team lead. The next two years, he was the Lions' primary ball carrier and sur- passed 1,200 yards both years. And then it all unraveled. After the end of the 1997 regular season — a cam- paign in which he rushed for 1,363 yards and 19 touchdowns in 11 games — re- ports surfaced that an expensive suit Enis wore to a college football awards banquet had been bought by Nalley. Paterno asked Enis if the stories were true. Enis told him they weren't. But the truth later came out: Nalley had indeed spent about $1,000 on Enis at several malls in the Harrisburg area, hoping to land him as a client. Paterno suspended Enis ahead of Penn State's Citrus Bowl matchup against Florida. With star receiver Joe Jurevicius also suspended, the Nittany Lions managed only 139 yards of total offense in that game and lost, 21-6. The following spring, Penn State barred Nalley from campus, alleging that he had broken state law in addition to violating NCAA rules. In an email uncovered by PennLive.com, the uni- versity's president at the time, Graham Spanier, said, "The idea is to keep [him] off campus permanently, to keep him away from current athletes, and to keep him away from current graduates or students whose eligibility has recently expired." The campus ban was the least of Nal- ley's troubles. He was also sentenced in Dauphin County to 100 hours of com- munity service and fined $10,000. The NFL Players Association suspended him for nearly two years, with the union's general counsel expressing hope that "the message it sends will not be lost on the agents who are trying to recruit potential draftees in 1999." LARGER QUESTIONS Nalley went on to have a long career as a sports agent. He represented Colin Kaepernick during the quarterback's at- tempt to return to the NFL, and last year he helped Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata land a $64 million con- tract extension. His association with the NFL has turned out to be a lot longer than Enis's. Drafted fifth overall by Chicago in 1998, the former Penn State great never de- veloped into the powerhouse runner he had been in college. Sidetracked by his erratic behavior off the field, he lasted just three seasons in the league, totaling 1,497 rushing yards. Before leaving Penn State, Enis re- ceived his share of criticism. Sports col- umnist John Kunda of The Allentown Morning Call contended that the player bore "99.5 percent" of the blame for the way his career ended. "Enis is 21 years old and knows right from wrong," Kunda wrote. "I don't care how much or how little an agent dan- gles in front of an athlete, that athlete has only one choice. He's got to tell the agent 'hit the road, Jack,' and then let the Penn State people know about the contact." Most of the discussion at the time centered on the specifics of Enis's case. How did this happen? What did he get out of it? Why did he take anything with a lucrative NFL payday awaiting him in just a matter of months? There wasn't nearly as much interest in examining the larger question about whether amateurism should serve as the foundation of a multimillion-dol- lar business. In the decades since, that question has only become more rel- evant. And the answers are reshaping college athletics at a fundamental level. With the new NIL legislation in ef- fect, athletes are allowed to sign with agents, albeit only to help line up mar- keting and endorsement deals. Active college players still aren't allowed to hire agents to represent them in future NFL contract negotiations. What's more, the NIL deals that agents strike on their behalf must not place any conditions on players that would require them to retain the agent for contract talks with NFL teams. So, even under the new rules there are still limits. While Curtis Enis's successors have ways to get paid. Enis himself did not. Thanks to Nalley, he was able to mon- etize his college stardom. But at what cost? ■ "The guy I'd like to punch in the nose is the agent." J O E P A T E R N O In 1997, Enis ran for 1,363 yards and 19 touchdowns, averaged 6.0 yards per carry and earned consensus All- America honors. BWI FILE PHOTO