Finally some good money news for Lil Wayne. His sports management firm, Young Money Sports Agency, has reportedly landed its first client: Florida State linebacker Reggie Northrup.
A defensive contributor in each of the last three seasons, Northrup made 94 tackles and defended three passes during his senior year.
While Wayne appreciates that Northrup brings his duffle bag to work, it doesn’t appear NFL teams feel the same way. ESPN.com’s Scouts Inc. does not have Northrup among the 322 players it graded for the 2016 draft, and CBS Sports has him sitting at No. 370.
He never appeared fully recovered from an ACL tear that prematurely ended his 2014 season in the Rose Bowl, which started his descent from lists of the best senior prospects available.
Perhaps Wayne sees a little of himself in Northrup. Wayne’s unrivaled work ethic helped him emerge as one of the greatest icons in rap history after his career was seemingly left for dead as a forgotten member of the Hot Boys. For there to be a Tha Carter III, there had to be Lights Out and 500 Degreez.
Northrup would have to follow a similar pattern to NFL stardom. He’s unlikely to be drafted until deep into Day 3 (if at all) and will immediately be fighting for his professional life come training camp.
Listed at just under 6’0 ⅜” and 231 pounds, Northrup, like Wayne, also lacks the ideal size for someone at his position. With ESPN.com listing his 40-yard dash at 4.75 seconds, work ethic and leadership alone might be the driving force in Northrup’s NFL future.
In 2005, Wayne told the world he was the best rapper alive and kept grinding until he made it happen. More than a decade later, we’ll have to see if his brashness can translate over to the business world and help Northrup hear his name called this April.
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