Humble Agent Makes Big Splash

Note: Every so often, I work on something that never materializes into something publishable. I thought this profile would appeal to RSL/US Soccer fans.

An agent little known to Major League Soccer fans made created two of the biggest ripples in the placid pond that is the MLS offseason.

In January, Rob Feigenson secured an invitation for Denmark-based speedy forward Jeremiah White to U.S. National Team camp. The former Wake Forest University star didn’t disappoint Bob Bradley, competing well enough in training to earn his first cap in the U.S. victory over Sweden on January 19. Then, in a transaction that surprised veteran watchers of the MLS-Europe transfer market, Feigenson helped broker the move of U.S. U-20 midfielder Bryan Arguez from D.C. United to Hertha Berlin. Within weeks of his arrival in the Bundesliga, Arguez, the 19-year-old didn’t play a minute as an MLS rookie last season found himself on the field for a Bundesliga encounter against Eintracht Frankfort in front of 40,000 spectators.

Feigenson has built an emerging practice on placing the right player in the “best environment to succeed,” not necessarily the place with the most money. He’s humble about his practice and his players (and he’s an agent?!), perhaps because he considers them friends and extended family.

In fact, when we spoke recently we started by catching up on the player he and I know best – Guatemalan defender Gustavo Cabrera, who played four games with Real Salt Lake in 2005. We talked about Cabrera’s consummate professionalism, plus his devotion as a husband and dad. Feigenson recounted that one of the ways Cabrera cleared his head and shook his disappointment after being released was to “hitch a ride” with some countrymen, by car, from Utah, through Arizona and the entire length of Mexico back to Guatemala.

In other words, we started by talking about the person, not the soccer. But Feigenson, who has represented Cabrera for years and regards him like a brother, was clearly disappointed that F.C. Dallas chose not to sign the 28-year-old Cabrera despite a good showing as a trialist last month. Feigenson is pragmatic (another term not so often applied to agents) though and still optimistic about Cabrera’s career.

“He has a great contract at home (with Comunicaciones),” Feigenson said. “He shares the captaincy of his national team with Carlos Ruiz. He’s playing his best soccer again as well.”

The fact that Cabrera is about the highest profile client of Feigenson’s to play in MLS demonstrates a unique philosophy of his National Sports Group. He doesn’t necessarily “need” MLS, and he doesn’t think that the league is automatically the best path for many young players.

Feigenson is in the agent business for passion, not profits. A fair collegiate player once upon a time, he is now obsessed with finding players with good character in need of the best “fit.”

Jeremiah White is Exhibit A. The Washington D.C. native earned All-ACC honors three times and was the 2003 ACC player of the year as a senior at Wake Forest. New England drafted the 5’ 8” speedster, but he was intent on making it in Europe, rather than playing for MLS minimum salary.
White careened across the continent, enduring trials and/or short stints in Holland, Serbia, Turkey, Greece and France. On the verge of postponing up his European dream one year ago, White and Feigenson received only “meager” offers from MLS and focused one more time on Europe. White landed at Denmark’s AGF Aarhus. He scored in his debut and was instrumental in helping the club back to the Danish Super League. He has now earned his own moniker, “Mr. USA.”

All along, Feigenson knew he had to match White with a club that was appropriate for the player’s abilities and that would showcase his goal-scoring instinct. With White finally finding success in a European first division, Feigenson then enlisted Danny Califf (who now captains his Danish side Aalborg BK) and Aarhus’ director of soccer to recommend White to Bob Bradley. Time will tell whether he can earn a return invite to National Team camp.

The story of Bryan Arguez is different. The lanky midfielder signed a Generation Adidas contract with MLS and was the 11th overall pick by D.C. United. He seemed destined to follow a Bobby Convey or Michael Bradley-like trajectory through MLS and to Europe. But Arguez never even dressed for a match and did not seem to fit into United’s long-term plans. Hamstrung by a long-term contract, Arguez didn’t have many options.

But Feigenson, who has built relationships around the world as the result of frequent “blitz” trips to call on two dozen clubs in the span of a week, knew that Hertha Berlin was seeking youth national team players across the globe. In a whirlwind process, he secured a trial, although negotiations almost ceased before they started, when MLS/D.C. United reportedly sought seven-figure compensation. The Arguez transfer proved that young American players, even without professional experience, have tangible value in the transfer market. (Reports suggest Berlin eventually paid $350,000 for the rights to the Miami native.)

“MLS is at a crossroads,” Feigenson said. “If it’s not a development league, and it’s not a destination league, what is it?”

The answer is that MLS is still a bit of both. But with Arguez commanding a substantially higher transfer fee than Bradley, the incentive is on MLS more than ever to sign the top young players before European teams swoop in to claim them.

Regardless, expect Feigenson’s stateside reputation to continue rise as more players seek his honest, straightforward representation.