John Rickert

John "JR" Rickert (born July 8, 1970) is an American sports agent who represents players in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National Basketball Association, as well as boxers.

He is the chief operating officer of Authentic Athletix Sports Agency's East Coast Offices, and is the owner of JR Sports Enterprises.

Additionally, he is a former high school teacher and coach, and the current principal of Niskayuna High School.

Rickert represents more than 80 professional athletes including Joshua Cribbs, Adam "Pac Man" Jones, Dion Lewis, Mike Patterson, Hakeem Nicks, Lorenzo Alexander, Artis Hicks and Greg Camarillo.

He also represents pitcher Angel Heredia of the Houston Astros organization, as well as 2 of youngest stars from the Dominican Republic, pitcher Juan Diaz, Jr. and infielder Raul Siri, both in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Rickert was born in 1970 in Woodbury, New Jersey.

John W. Rickert Jr. grew up in New Jersey and developed the nickname "JR" during his participation on various sports team in the 1980s.

He graduated from Holy Cross High School in Delran Township, New Jersey in 1988.

He went on to get a degrees in History and Communications at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York in 1992.

In 1994, he received his master's degree in education from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, as well as certificates of advanced studies in the fields of educational administration and business in 1999.

In 2000, Rickert signed his first NFL clients, and in 2002 Artis Hicks of the Philadelphia Eagles became Rickert's first client to make an NFL roster.

In 2001, Rickert became the 6th principal of Niskayuna High School.

In 2003 Rickert formed National Sports Management (NSM) to handle the sports side of his representation business.

To date, Rickert has negotiated a near $400 Million in player contracts.

He has had at least one client drafted in 12 consecutive NFL drafts from 2003 - 2014.

He also has had at least one client drafted in 9 consecutive MLB drafts from 2006 - 2014.

In 2007, Rickert formed JR Enterprises Entertainment Group as an entertainment, media, and celebrity representation division.

During that same year, Rickert co-created and launched Inside Pro Football, a radio show on WOFX (AM), Fox Sports 980.

In 2010 Rickert successfully negotiated more NFL free agent contracts than any other NFL agent, most notably that of Joshua Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns, which was made famous by Deion Sanders on NFL Network when he on air began to refer to Cribbs as "Pay The Man".

He also negotiated contracts for Lorenzo Alexander, Artis Hicks, Rex Hadnot, and Matt Ware in the 2010 free agency period.

In 2011 Rickert negotiated free agent contracts for Kevin Burnett with the Miami Dolphins and Josh Portis with the Seattle Seahawks.

Beginning in 2012, JR will operate all of his representation services under JR Sports Enterprises LLC and will only be associated with one firm, Peter Schaffer's Authentic Athletix.

Rickert and Schaffer faced legal challenges from many of their former partners.

Rickert was named in 3 separate lawsuits, all of which were settled by September 2012.

Rickert and Schaffer have emerged stronger than ever from the legal challenges and were recently named Top 10 Agents in the NFL by "Inside the League."

During the 2012 free agency period, he negotiated a 2-year deal for Jordan Babineaux with the Tennessee Titans and a one-year for Artis Hicks with the Miami Dolphins.

In September 2012, Rickert took Inside Pro Football to ESPN Radio's 104.5 The Team and the show moved to Saturday mornings at 9 AM.

In 2013, Rickert branded his new "Team JR" representation team.

Today, the team includes longtime Rickert associates Jared Fortier and Osiris Walcott.

It also includes football division director, Jacoby Hudson, entertainment director, Jamell Romeo, client manager & boxing director, Cleveland "Fly As Day" Jones.

Attorney Lou Lecce continues to serve as General Counsel of Team JR.

In 2013, clients Joshua Cribbs and Chris Ogbonnaya of the Cleveland Browns and Lorenzo Alexander of the Washington Redskins all became free agents.

Alexander signed a 3-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals.

Ogbonnaya signed a 2-year extension with the Browns and Cribbs signed with the Oakland Raiders and later in the 2013 season with the New York Jets.

In 2014, Mike Patterson signed with the New York Giants.

In 2015, Rickert completed a 2-year extension for Dion Lewis with the New England Patriots.

In 2016, longtime client Lorenzo Alexander also signed a 1-year deal with the Buffalo Bills with a 2-year extension in 2017 worth up to $9 Million.

He also represents MLB 2018 draft pick Ray Hernandez.

In boxing, he represents super middleweight boxer, J'Leon Love and undefeated light middleweight boxer Travell Mazion.

In 2018, Rickert negotiated a 4-year deal for Dion Lewis with the Tennessee Titans, worth up to $24 Million.