The BulleTin • Sunday, novemBer 13, 2022 B3
SPORTS BUSINESS
La Pine ousted after quarterfinals loss
Kelli Masters overcomes critics,
among few female NFL agents
BY ROB MAADDI
associated Press
Kelli Masters remembers
the feeling of going to her
first NFL scouting combine
in 2006, seeing no other fe-
male agents in the room and
wondering if the people who
told her she didn’t belong
were right.
Masters had studied law at
the University of Oklahoma
and began her professional
career as a business litigation
attorney.
The former national and
world champion baton
twirler and Miss Oklahoma
1997 became an agent be-
cause her passion for helping
people with their nonprofits
led her to work with athletes
who wanted to start charita-
ble foundations.
Masters had only one cli-
ent and little experience when
she went to Indianapolis, but
she was eager to attend the
annual agents’ meeting and
break into the business.
Then, she got a rude reality
check.
“I was approached by one
of the biggest agents at the
time who’s still a big agent,
and he basically gave me a
lecture on why I didn’t be-
long there and really spoke to
a lot of the insecurities that I
walked in with,” Masters said
on the AP Pro Football Pod-
cast. “I was thinking: ‘Gosh, I
feel like I’m prepared, but am
I prepared? Can I really hang
with this crowd? Can I really
compete and be respected
and develop relationships in
this very male-dominated
industry?’ And he basically
told me that I couldn’t. He
told me that I was a laughing-
stock and that I would never
be respected and that players
wouldn’t want to sign with
me strictly because of my
gender.”
Masters faced difficult
obstacles often early in her
career. She’d meet potential
clients only to be asked if she
was the assistant or secretary.
She was told by parents of
college athletes that women
couldn’t handle the job.
But Masters didn’t walk
away. Instead, she put this
agent in his place.
“I said: ‘You know what? I
don’t see a lot of other women
around here, but that’s OK.
You don’t know me as a per-
son. You don’t know what I’m
capable of. You don’t know
what I’m wanting to accom-
plish here. And sorry, I’m not
going anywhere. And there
are going to be other women
coming behind me that are
— Bulletin staff report
Summit
Continued from B1
aP photo
Kelli Masters in her office in Oklahoma City in October. In 2010, Masters became the first female agent
to represent a top-5 pick in the NFL draft. Masters has now represented more than 40 NFL players on ac-
tive rosters. Her clients also include MLB players, Olympians and professional golfers.
also going to be doing great
work in this industry, and
you’re just going to have to
accept that fact,’” Masters re-
called.
“Being told to my face
by someone that I actually
looked up to that I didn’t be-
long and I was a joke was
pretty harsh. And then being
specifically told in the recruit-
ing process that we just don’t
want to sign with a woman
because we don’t think
women can do this, those
were tough in the beginning.
But I think we’ve definitely
blown right past that.”
‘The impossible dream’
Masters has more female
colleagues now, including
Kim Miale, Caitlin Aoki,
Nicole Lynne, Molly Mc-
Manimie and Christina Phil-
lips. Of the 910 NFLPA-cer-
tified agents, 67 are women.
Still, that’s only 7.3%.
“I love the fact that now, 18
years later, gender is no lon-
ger a barrier, and I’m thank-
ful for that,” Masters said. “I
always kind of hoped that we
would get to a point where it
was no longer making head-
lines when a woman did
something big in football.”
It took Masters four years
before she represented a
player who earned a spot on
a team’s regular-season roster,
meaning she didn’t get paid
until that happened. Agents
don’t get compensation if a
player only makes the prac-
“Being told to my face by
someone that I actually
looked up to that I didn’t
belong and I was a joke
was pretty harsh. And then
being specifically told in
the recruiting process that
we just don’t want to sign
with a woman because we
don’t think women can do
this, those were tough in
the beginning. But I think
we’ve definitely blown right
past that.”
— Kelli Masters
tice squad. Some agents need
a secondary job because they
spend their own money to
prepare players for the draft.
They provide them with ev-
erything from nutritionists
and trainers to travel, lodging
and meal money.
Masters invested plenty
of time, money and energy
building relationships, estab-
lishing herself in the business
and recruiting players before
she finally saw a return.
In 2010, she got her big
break when Oklahoma defen-
sive tackle Gerald McCoy and
his family chose her to be his
agent. McCoy was selected
No. 3 overall by the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, making
Masters the first female agent
to represent a top-5 pick in
the NFL draft. McCoy went
on make six Pro Bowls in an
11-year career, and earned
more than $100 million.
“It’s still hard to sign
first-rounders,” said Masters,
who started her own agency,
Kelli Masters Management.
“It’s the impossible dream for
most agents.”
Masters has now repre-
sented more than 40 NFL
players who’ve been on active
rosters. Her clients also in-
clude players in Major League
Baseball, Olympians and pro-
fessional golfers. She detailed
her career as a sports agent
in her book called “High-Im-
pact Life,” released in 2021.
Her Christian faith is a
theme throughout the book
and has been a foundation
during her career.
“There are faster pathways
to the top of the industry by
kind of cheating or skirting
the rules and it’s just not even
on my radar,” Masters said.
“Even if it means losing cli-
ents, I want to do things the
right way. It’s not about who
am I impressing, who am I
pleasing, do I look successful.
It’s have I served, have I ful-
filled what I was assigned to
do, am I loving people well,
am I advocating and fighting
for and protecting the people
that have trusted me to do
that. I cannot imagine doing
that without faith.”
Continued from B1
Continued from B1
Bosa brothers
The first NFL meeting be-
tween the Bosa brothers will
have to wait, with LA’s Joey
on injured reserve after un-
dergoing core muscle surgery
similar to the one that side-
lined San Francisco’s Nick in
college.
Nick Bosa said their
mother, Cheryl, still plans
to attend the game in a split
Chargers-49ers jersey, but he’s
Senior quarterback Hogan
Carmichael then connected
with Ozolin to give Summit
a lead it would not surrender.
In the final minutes of the first
half, Carmichael scored on a
QB sneak to put the Storm up
21-7 at half.
“Our kids took on the chal-
lenge, and they didn’t buckle,”
said Summit coach Corben
Hyatt. “That was good to see.”
It was not always the pretti-
est of football on a snowy night
on the west side of Bend, but
the Storm overcame an early
deficit to win its 10th game in
a row and is now a win away
from playing for the program’s
first state title since 2015.
“Let’s be super honest,” Hy-
att said. “We uncharacteristi-
cally turned the ball over, we
weren’t in the right formations,
it wasn’t our best football by
any means. But to win a quar-
terfinal game 35-7, I’ll take
that. We get to move on, and
we get another week of prac-
tice to get better.”
It wasn’t picturesque foot-
ball. At the start of the second
half, there were six turnovers,
three by each team.
The Storm’s first drive af-
ter halftime ended in a fum-
ble that Central recovered.
But on the next snap, Ozolin
plucked the ball out of the air
for his first interception. How-
ever, the Storm could not take
advantage of the short field
and turned the ball over on
downs inside the Panthers’ 10-
yard line. Central again tried
throwing the ball in Ozolin’s
direction — and again, Ozolin
picked off Nelson.
“I’m not getting those picks
if the defensive line is not do-
ing their job or the linebackers
aren’t doing their job,” Ozolin
said. “It is a bunch of moving
parts. And when all of those
parts are working, that is when
the benefits happen.”
But the turnovers would not
stop. Just as it looked like Sum-
mit would score a touchdown
to end the string of offensive
miscues, Stephens had the ball
stripped near the goal line and
Central recovered the fumble
in the end zone.
Summit got its third inter-
ception of the half when junior
defensive lineman Braden Bai-
ley intercepted an attempted
screen pass.
Already with two intercep-
Bend
49ers
Limited air service
With receivers Keenan Al-
len playing in only two games
and Mike Williams about to
miss his second one, offensive
coordinator Joe Lombardi
and quarterback Justin Her-
bert have seen their down-
field options nearly disappear.
Herbert has gone four
straight games without go-
ing over 300 yards and hasn’t
completed a pass longer than
20 yards in the air in the past
three.
Joshua Palmer is the only
intermediate to deep threat,
and he might start seeing
more double coverage after
having eight receptions for
106 yards last week.
The Chargers are likely to
go with another grind-it-out
passing game, where Herbert
makes a lot of underneath
passes and hopes that his re-
ceivers or running back Aus-
tin Ekeler can generate yards
after the catch.
in the 3a quarterfinals, the no. 7 La Pine football team saw its
eight-game winning streak and season come to an end after falling
49-6 to no. 2 Cascade Christian in medford Friday night.
The Challengers racked up more than 450 yards of offense, while
holding the hawks, the Champions of the mountain valley Confer-
ence, to fewer than 100 yards of offense.
The hawks fell behind 42-0 before senior quarterback Colton
Campbell connected with senior running back dawson Cook for la
Pine’s only touchdown.
Butch dill/aP
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert warms up before a game against the Atlanta Falcons
last Sunday in Atlanta.
sad his brother won’t be able
to play.
“I’ve watched them for
seven to eight years now and
I definitely have cheered for
them for a long time, for
Joey,” Nick Bosa said. “It’s go-
ing to fun to play them. I wish
he was out there. But I think
I have a good idea of their of-
fense.”
If Nick Bosa gets at least
a half-sack, the family will
reach the 100 mark, with
Joey coming into the game
with 59½ in his career, Nick
with 33 and father John with
seven.
Second choice
Right tackle Mike Mc-
Glinchey knows many 49ers
fans would have rather gotten
a different player in the 2018
draft.
San Francisco picked Mc-
Glinchey ninth overall in that
draft and he has been a capa-
ble starter for most of his five
years.
Niners fans will get the
chance to see the player many
of them wanted when safety
Derwin James visits with the
Chargers.
James was picked 17th
overall and has developed
into one of the top safeties in
the league.
“Most people wanted him
here and not me, if I remem-
ber correctly,” McGlinchey
said. “So sorry for the socks
and underwear that they got
for Christmas in 2018.”
The Bend High defense
held a team scoreless for the
seventh time this season and
forced three turnovers on a
cold night with intermittent
snowfall.
“We knew that their offen-
sive line would try to mug up
our defensive line,” Craven
said. “So it was super import-
ant that we played very phys-
ical on the defensive line and
that we take away their full-
back and their quarterback
with their triple-option game.
Our defensive linemen and
linebackers just did a master-
ful job of that.”
Bend senior running back
Malakai Nutter rushed 24
times for 115 yards and one
touchdown and caught an-
other TD. He got the scoring
started with a 4-yard touch-
down run early in the first
quarter for a 6-0 lead.
The score remained 6-0 by
the end of the first quarter,
but the Bend barrage let loose
in the second quarter with 21
points. Nutter scored again
on a 7-yard reception midway
through the second quarter
for a 13-0 lead. Then Bend de-
fensive back Sam Armstrong
intercepted a pass by South
Albany quarterback Kaden
Younger.
Two plays later, Malinowski
threw the ball over the top and
down the middle. The 6-foot-
4, 205-pound Groshong went
up and grabbed it. When he
came down, there was nothing
but frozen green grass in front
Brian rathbone/The Bulletin
Summit’s Charlie Ozolin (30) tries
to break the tackle of a Central
defender Friday night in Bend.
tions and a touchdown, Ozolin
caught his second touchdown
pass from Carmichael to put
an end to the third-quarter
turnover party.
Carmichael then threw for
his third touchdown pass to
senior wideout Matthew Guth-
rie to put the game on ice.
After giving up a touch-
down on the first series of the
game, the Summit defense
pitched a shutout the rest of
the game, holding a Panthers
squad that had scored more
than 35 points in seven of its
previous nine games, well be-
low its season average.
“It was just a unification of
the team,” Ozolin said. “To
have that as a team with no
weak links, it makes us all so
confident.”
Summit is one of four re-
maining teams — along with
Bend High, Wilsonville and
Thurston — in the 5A playoffs.
Summit defeated the three
other playoff teams during the
regular season.
Friday, Summit will face
Thurston, a team it beat 48-10
back in Week 2. To reach the
state title game, the Storm will
have to beat a team a second
time, which is not an easy feat.
Thurston has not lost any of
its nine games since that Sept.
9 matchup in Bend. This time,
Summit will not have a home-
field advantage.
“Since early in the season
every team has gotten bet-
ter,” Hyatt said. “Thurston has
rolled off a lot of wins. It’s go-
ing to be a challenge. Now go-
ing to a neutral site, they have
seen us play and will be pre-
pared. It’s going to be a chal-
lenge for everybody.”
█
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
of him on the 97-yard play.
“It was the best feeling of
my life,” Groshong said. “I
dreamed about this my whole
life. I loved it.”
Craven said the South Al-
bany defense was stacking the
box “with as many people as
humanly possible” to try to
stop the Lava Bears’ vaunted
Wing-T rushing attack. Their
man-to-man coverage on
the outside appeared helpless
in stopping Groshong, who
caught a 6-yard touchdown
pass late in the second quarter
to give Bend an insurmount-
able 27-0 lead.
“We were able to pass pro-
tect long enough to run some
double moves out there and
he did a great job of going up
and getting the ball each time,”
Craven said.
Jack Sorenson added a
touchdown run on a reverse
in the third quarter for Bend,
and defensive back Sean Cra-
ven returned an interception
for a touchdown in the fourth
quarter.
Bend has reached the state
semifinals for the first time
since 2007, and the second
time since 1966. The Lava
Bears last claimed a state title
in 1940. Bend has 33 seniors,
most of whom have played to-
gether since middle school.
“Just the energy and the
teamwork that we have to-
gether, not many teams have
it,” Groshong said. “We’ve
been together forever. We just
love each other and we’ll fight
for each other.”
█
Reporter: 541-383-0318,
mmorical@bendbulletin.com