Ben’s Blog: From ISU to the NFL

By Ben Lamaak, former Cyclone lineman, CF contributor

Cincinnati – Hello Cyclone Nation! Many of you are probably wondering what this is all about, so I will begin with a bit of an intro. I had an idea awhile back to start a blog to share my experiences and what I am going through as I prepare for life in the NFL.  It really is an incredible opportunity and experience that I would like to share with the best fans in the country!  I would like to start off by thanking Chris Williams, owner Jason Loutsch and all of you Cyclone fanatics for giving me this opportunity.  I plan on blogging a few times a week so make sure to check in often to see what’s going on in my journey.

Jan. 12, 2011

I will start off by describing the first step in the process for me, which was to find an agent. This process was somewhat stressful for my family and me. I had eight to 10 agencies try to contact me.  I did a lot of research on my own through the mail and packets they sent, visiting their websites and talking to coaches about it.  From the eight to 10 agencies that contacted me, I narrowed it down to three.  This whole process was very similar to college recruiting with all these agents trying to get you to join their team.  The three agencies that I narrowed it down to visited my family and me in Iowa, so that we could get to know them better.  This was a very fun time to get to know them on a more personal level and to see how they differentiated themselves.  After interviewing them and talking with my family, I decided to go with a guy from Cincinnati named Brian Hamilton.  His agency is called Planbsports.  Some notable players he represents are Jacques Reeves, John Connor (aka the Terminator) and Mike Mitchell.  I just felt very conformable around Brian. I felt like he would work very hard for me and have my best interest at heart.  He was an attorney before he became an agent in 1996.

Now many of you are probably wondering what an NFL agent does?  I had no idea what they did really before I started this process either.  An agent is actually very important and you can visit this website and see why.  http://www.planbsportsmanagement.com/.

So again, this is the first of many blogs that I will be sharing with you over the next few months. Check out CF sometime later on this week and over the weekend to hear about what it is like being in Cincinnati, my training facility Ignition and all the other players that I am working out with.  Thanks for reading I hope everyone enjoyed it.  For more in depth details and daily updates, follow me on Twitter Bmaak63.  You can ask me anything on there and I should get back to you not long after.

Thanks again and GO CYCLONES.  ALL IN