PHILADELPHIA — Eagles star quarterback Jalen Hurts recently became the highest paid player in NFL history, engineered by his star agent, Nicole Lynn, who’s blazing a trail in the agency world.
The Tulsa, Okla., native, broke into the industry as the first female agent at PlayersRep in 2015 (later acquired by Young Money APAA Sports Agency) and has been on an upward trajectory since. She joined Klutch Sports Agency, led by Rich Paul, in 2021.
She’s the first Black woman and just the third woman ever to be the agent of a first-round pick (Quinnen Williams, 2019) and the first Black woman to represent a quarterback in the Super Bowl, but Lynn’s reach extends beyond the field.
Two of her clients, Washington Commanders assistant running backs coach Jennifer King and Tennessee Titans defensive quality control coach Lori Locust, a Philly native, serve as examples of Lynn’s impact.
“I can tell you that you won’t meet a nicer person, you won’t meet a more engaging person, when you talk with her,” said Locust, who became one of the first women to be a full-time NFL coach in 2019. “I think every one of her clients will probably tell you that they feel so supported by her, and she’s so individually supportive; she really does take the time to get to know you as a person, and then represents that, which I think is incredible.”
“I think there was something that drew me to her. She was super authentic and just a good person,” said King, who became the first Black woman to become a full-time NFL coach, in 2021. “It was just truly [not] trying to be anyone other than herself during our conversation, and just watching her, she’s always the same. You can always appreciate consistency.”
Since that initial meeting, so much has changed for all three women. While King and Locust have paved the way for other women to be NFL coaches by paying their dues in a male-dominated NFL, Lynn similarly is breaking down barriers in the male-driven world of agents, adding another layer of support and respect to the trio.
This especially is true for Locust, who was let go by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2022 season. She later landed with the Titans on Mike Vrabel’s staff, but the support Lynn offered, personally and professionally, affirmed just what type of agent and person she had representing her.
“She was very active in helping put my name in rooms and talk to people at the GM level and everything that you would normally do for a coach,” Locust said. “She has the credibility with these people and the trust of them because she’s done everything the right way.”
Like Locust, King navigated uncharted waters in her career as well, starting as a wide receivers intern with the Carolina Panthers after meeting then-Panthers head coach Ron Rivera in 2018 at the NFL Women’s Forum. After a brief stint in the Alliance of American Football, she returned to the Panthers as a running backs intern in 2019 when the AAF folded.
King joined Washington as a coaching intern in 2020, around the time Lynn became her agent, and became a full-time coach in 2021. Having the support of another Black woman — and well-connected agent such as Lynn — helped bring her full-time opportunity with the Commanders together.
“To have her there for the contract and things like that, that I could give to her, [was great],” King said of the experience. “Just because you don’t know what you don’t know, and this [was] my first NFL contract. I didn’t know what to look for, and she was able to provide support for me there.”
No ‘wining and dining’
From checking in with King, Locust, and other clients about their family to taking a genuine interest in their success, women particularly, Lynn nurtures each interaction, the coaches say. And that extends to women she works alongside as part of Hurts’ all-female team: Jenna Malphrus (client services manager), Chantal Romain (director of communications), Rachel Everett (marketing), and Shakeemah Simmons-Winter (senior manager of communications).
“I feel like we saw eye-to-eye in terms of hunger and determination to succeed, and she’s making history,” Hurts said during media day ahead of the Super Bowl. “It’s a ton of different things that I feel like you don’t realize you’re doing until you’re able to reflect on them later on, and this is a thing that is surreal having a full female team and Nicole leading the way. She’s doing a great job.”
Added Locust: “I think it’s becoming a little bit more common, but I think that it’s very special for as much as she puts in to other people, but especially her support of women on her team, within the agency, and into her clients. I just know it’s going to continue to expand for her because of the person she is and the way she does business and the respect that she has presently.”
Lynn also is described as intentional with everything she does from a business standpoint. That includes details like how and where she decides to negotiate.
One of the tactics that has helped make her so successful, Locust said, is keeping a professional distance from decision-makers such as team executives and general managers. Like Lynn did with King and Locust during their initial meetings at the combine, the Oklahoma alumna with a degree in business management and a law degree with honors prefers to meet over a cup of coffee.
“One of the things that I know, that she always stuck to is that she would never meet a client or she would never meet somebody at a GM level or anything like that for a drink,” Locust said. “She would always say, ‘Hey, let’s just go grab a cup of coffee,’ and that stuck out to me because that’s not typical, kind of like the wining and dining and ‘I’m going to take you to this club’ and ‘I’m going to take you out to dinner; we’re going to get bottles of wine.’
“And she understood that in order to be taken seriously, and for them to recognize that what she was doing was valid ... she was eliminating anything that could be looked at incorrectly.”
Lynn’s success over the last eight years has allowed her to represent high-caliber athletes. Of the players set to be in next week’s 2023 NFL draft, the Klutch Sports agent is representing projected top-five pick Will Anderson Jr. from Alabama and Texas running back Bijan Robinson, who has been connected to the Eagles throughout the draft process.
“I think when I saw her signing top draft picks, that let you know that she was legit,” King said. “Her journey from Young Money to Klutch, and now Klutch provides such a great support system for its athletes as well ... so to have her in charge of football, and to have her charisma and skill with the Klutch brand, I mean, it’s huge.
“She’s able to do whatever she wants to do in this world.”
