By Alexa Stabler, as told to Jennifer Williams | Apr 25, 2018
Special to espnW.com
Courtesy of Alexa Stabler
A couple of years after her father, Ken, passed away, Alexa Stabler became certified by the NFL Players Association to represent players.
Alexa Stabler doesn't want to be known as a great female agent; she wants to be a great agent, period. But as a daughter of the late Ken Stabler, she doesn't mind if others make the connection that her father was one of the most celebrated men to play under center. In fact, she embraces her football lineage.
"I think that I will be the first to admit that my last name is helpful and that it gets people to respond to my email or phone call," she says.
"But it's not just a name."
Although her father's 15-year Hall of Fame career was over before she was even born, he inspired her to become certified by the NFL Players Association last summer to represent clients. Now, she is set to represent six prospects -- from Alabama, Florida State, Troy and Jacksonville State -- at the 2018 NFL draft.
Courtesy of Alexa Stabler
A first-year agent, Alexa Stabler will represent six players in this year's draft class, including Jacksonville State running back Roc Thomas (left) and Alabama punter JK Scott.
A native of Alabama, she graduated from the University of Alabama in 2009 and received her law degree from Alabama in 2012. She had been practicing law for about five years before she founded Stabler Sports, which she based in Mobile because she felt there weren't enough player representatives in her state, even though it is home to the nation's preeminent college football program.
Stabler admits her father's death took a toll on her. She knew Ken Stabler the father, not Ken Stabler the football player. She saw how the game affected his health. (Ken Stabler died in July 2015 from complications resulting from colon cancer, but also suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.) For a time, she resented the game. "I was very angry at football," she says.
But now, she uses her past to help the game's future athletes.
"Not trying to talk bad about football," Stabler says, "but I think that my perspective can help these guys in terms of having an eye for what's going to happen when you get into football."
Leading up to the draft, the first-year agent talks to espnW about why this path is a way for her to honor her father's legacy and how she goes about her business. Here is her story, in her words:
The family name
I will say what's helpful with that name comes a lot of experience and perspective because of my dad's career, being brought up, and being so close to him. I will say I've had a few clients, not just one, who went home or talked to their parent after our initial meeting. He shared my name, and the parents were like, "Oh wow, yeah, that's amazing." They're so young that they don't really care, or unless they're just geeked out on the NFL history; that's really not something that they know much about. It's more the parents that bring it up or acknowledge it.
Be driven
I certainly think my work ethic comes from my dad; we just execute that work ethic in different ways. ... His approach to life was very different than it was for me -- carefree and kind of a wild man. I'm very Type A and introverted, but we're both super focused, both very determined to be the very best at what we do, and both approach things with a discipline and a desire to do it well.
I just want to be known as a good agent, as an effective agent, a successful agent, not as a woman agent.
Alexa Stabler
No pressure
He never put pressure on my sister or me. I guess I feel a sense of pressure to be able to do right by his name and to do this job with a level of respect for the job at the level of which he was able to execute playing football. I think as long as I'm helping people, he would be proud.
Gender not an issue
My little sister and I were raised where gender was never an issue. It was never even brought up. I just want to be known as a good agent, as an effective agent, a successful agent, not as a woman agent. I went to law school. There are a lot more men, I think, than women in law. It's not that big of a stretch, having been around football my whole life. My ultimate goal in this is to help my players build better lives and to make my dad proud.
Why she became an agent
I've been practicing law for about five years, but I've lived football my whole life by virtue of my dad. He had me and my little sister after he retired, so my experience was as a daughter of a former athlete. That meant seeing what life looks like after football -- physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, really just every part of it. When he passed away, I was very angry, upset -- just a lot of emotions.
It was a very rough period, and I was kind of in a funk, just kind of going through the motions of life. I realized I needed to do something; I've got to make some kind of changes. I thought, "OK, I'm a lawyer, and I love football, been around football my entire life. Maybe I should try to help guys like my dad." I don't think football caused my dad to pass away. I know that it caused him a lot of pain physically, mentally, emotionally. But it also gave him a wonderful career and opportunity he certainly otherwise never would've had.
Courtesy of Alexa Stabler
Alexa Stabler admits her father's death took a personal toll on her, so much so that she needed some distance from football. But now, she thinks she can use her perspective to help players adjust to the pros.
Relationship with football
I mean, my father's body was just breaking down and that was very hard to watch. After he passed away, maybe for like a year or so, I was very angry. I would watch football a little bit, but I just wasn't going to as many games as I used to go to. I needed some distance. I thought I can either maintain this distance, which is from something that I've been around my entire life, something I've always loved watching -- my husband and I had our first date at a football game -- that kind of stuff, so many special memories tied to football. I can either take a step away from that, or I can do something and try to maintain my relationship with football, and also help people.
It's very much a dangerous sport, but it's also so much more than a sport to me. ... Sports are such a unifying experience and thing that we can get behind, and so I do struggle with that sometimes, but I also think, "Well, these guys are going to play football, so they need someone who cares about them as people, and who takes their welfare very seriously." That's the approach that I take, but I could understand how people would see it differently.
Talking injuries with her players
We've talked about their injury history, especially before the combine medical stuff. It's such a big part of it, but being totally honest right now, I'm just trying to get them on the team. As soon as they suit back up, that is something that is so important to me. My dad was diagnosed with CTE when he passed, and I suspect a lot of his teammates are probably living with it right now. We'll find out maybe when they pass if they had it too.
I do think the game is safer now than when he played. There are improvements in equipment and roles, but nevertheless, concussions, I think they were up this year over the past season. I'm hoping that's because of reporting and just better technology, things like that, not because the game is worse. It's something that's very important to me, but ultimately these are grown men, and they have to say if something's wrong, go through the concussion protocol. There are pros and cons to that, but when they suit back up, that will definitely be a priority. Right now, to be completely honest, we're not talking about that.
Finding a need for agents
Personally, I didn't have a good or bad experience with agents; I just know the larger reputation of the industry as a whole. My dad was so not business-minded, much to his fault sometimes -- somebody would put a piece of paper in front of him, he would sign it and say, "Let's go get a drink or whatever." Not a read-the-small-print type of guy. I just saw some things happen later in life when he no longer had an agent and know he could've benefited by having a set of eyes on some papers. ... I think instances like that certainly contributed to me doing this.
Building trust
A lot of my players, because of their upbringing, and their situation, aren't quick to trust people. Maybe that's because people have made promises to them in the past, people have not been there for them in the past, people have disappointed them.
Maybe the reputation of sports agents is not the most pristine and there's been some shady characters in this business. I think it's good that they approach with skepticism. Trying to overcome that, break down walls, can sometimes be challenging. Especially in this business, I think it's so important that they are forthright and forthcoming with me, because to advocate for their best interest, I have to know what's really going on with them, what they want and what they need. Trying to get that out of them, especially given that football is such a tough-guy industry, can be challenging.
Her pre-draft mindset
I'm very excited. I remember sitting at home watching the draft last year, knowing I was going to be entering this type of work, but having no idea at what level, or if I would have clients, or if I would be sitting at home again the next year saying, "OK, well I've got a year under my belt ... go get a client next year." So to have six guys that I represent, that are draft-eligible is beyond my wildest expectations. It has brought me so much joy, and so much satisfaction. I'm so optimistic about their futures, and I genuinely love working with each of them.
I'm not a mother, but I can only imagine what a mother's pride feels like because that's how I regard these guys. They're like my kids, or like my little brothers, and seeing them in an NFL
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