Hard work, ambition have turned
Cindrich into one of the craft's leading figures

By Jerry DiPaola
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, April 14, 2002

 

Mary Rose Cindrich can stay. No offense, but everyone else must get out.

Mary Rose has been around her husband, Ralph Cindrich — they were college sweethearts at Pitt — long enough to know that draft day is his holy day of obligation. When the NFL conducts its 2002 draft Saturday and Sunday, he will demand peace and quiet in their Mt. Lebanon home and nothing but a television tuned to ESPN, a radio tuned to Myron Cope and his annual dinner of spaghetti, salad and a glass of wine.

"I shoo everyone out of the house," said Cindrich, one of the most influential and successful player agents in the NFL. "My wife will be there because she doesn't bother me. If my kids are home, out. My mother-in-law, out. People stopping over, out."

Cindrich is totally devoted to his clients, but especially when they are among the anxious group of prospects hoping to hear their name called early in the draft-day proceedings.

He's also a realist, and he doesn't sugar-coat the often-agonizing process. Said Cindrich: "I'll be letting them, many of them, know, it's going to be a long, long day."

ATHLETE REPRESENTING ATHLETES

Cindrich knows about agony and frustration. He was an athlete long before he started representing athletes.

At Avella High School in the 1960s, he was undefeated in dual wrestling meets as a junior and senior and was a WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up. In football, he was captain of his team at the Big 33 Classic and went on to Pitt, where he was an All-America linebacker as a sophomore and senior.

Due to a knee injury suffered in the first football game ever played on Astroturf at Pitt Stadium in 1970, Cindrich wrestled only one year in college. Still, he was a heavyweight champion in the eastern region and ranked fourth nationally as a sophomore. He was invited to the Olympic trials, but the injury forced him to decline.

The Cindrich File

Name: Ralph Cindrich College: University of Pittsburgh Occupation: Licensed attorney and sports agent Residence: Mt. Lebanon Family: Wife, Mary Rose; son Michael, who is graduating from Bucknell University in May, and daughter Christina, a student at Loyola Marymount University and the 1999 Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA. Personal achievements: Member of the Avella High School Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, the Pitt All-time Football Team and the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. He played football in the NFL for the New England Patriots (1972) and Houston Oilers (1973-1975).

Cindrich was dedicated to the athletic lifestyle.

"This was the flower era," he said of the late 1960s and early 1970s. "When things were wild, I was clean. I didn't do the partying."

He wore his hair short and vowed to avoid alcohol and tobacco.

"You lived like a monk," he said.

After three knee operations, he was a fifth-round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons in 1972 and he managed to play four seasons in the NFL (one with the New England Patriots and three with the Houston Oilers).

His career was cut short by the lingering effects of the knee injury, but he was ready for the rest of his life. While playing for the Oilers in 1974, he went to law school at the South Texas College of Law at Texas A&M. He received his license to practice law in Texas in 1978.

Today, Cindrich sits in his handsomely appointed office in Carnegie, and speaks on a speaker phone to many wealthy clients, including former Steelers center and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson, who make positive imprints on society.

Then, however, one of his first clients was a Manson-like cult follower, a woman who was the ringleader among three people accused in the one-at-a-time murder of two 18-year-old hitchhikers near the Astrodome in Houston. Cindrich remembers the grisly details better than he does the numbers on his richest contract.

"They tied them up like pigs, (by their) feet, with their hands behind their backs," said Cindrich, who was ordered to defend the suspects by a Texas judge named Jimmy James. "They put a rope around the neck of one, one (suspect) got on one side and the other (suspect) on the other side, they put their foot on his shoulder blades and pulled until he died. And he took a while to die."

The second boy watched his friend die and was killed in the same manner, Cindrich said, after the suspects went out for donuts and coffee.

Eventually, the suspects confessed to the killings. But another murder case went Cindrich's way, even though his client shot the victim six times with a snub-nose gun.

"After the first two, he was down on the ground," Cindrich said, "and he put another four in him."

Cindrich won, arguing self-defense and noting that the victim — "Just a nasty character," he said — was known to carry a hook knife in his back pocket.

"We argued it more as a benefit to society because he was a bad guy."

Happily for Cindrich, his clients still are involved in brutal, violent acts, but it now revolves around the controlled chaos of the NFL.

VETERAN NEGOTIATOR

Cindrich has been negotiating contracts for NFL players for a quarter-century, starting with former Pitt lineman Glenn Hyde, who signed a deal in the 1970s with the long-defunct WFL's Chicago Fire. The Fire's general manager was Bill Polian, now the president of the Indianapolis Colts.

This year, Cindrich and Polian were back at the bargaining table, hammering out a six-year, $40 million deal, with a $10 million signing bonus, for offensive tackle Tarik Glenn, the largest contract awarded in the NFL this year.

Former Pitt offensive lineman and Outland Trophy winner Mark May was one of Cindrich's first high-profile clients in 1981. But it was more than a cold, business relationship. The two men became friends, their families vacationed together and Cindrich was the best man at May's wedding.

Four years later, Cindrich worked out a deal for another Pitt lineman that was and still is one of the most creative and lucrative in NFL history.

The year was 1985, and Cindrich had landed two top college players, Penn Hills' Bill Fralic and wide receiver Al Toon, who were drafted second and 10th, respectively, in the first round.

The Fralic deal with the Falcons was unique in that it was written to yield a $150,000 annual payment long after the end of his playing career. In fact, for the rest of his life.

"Every January, when he wakes up, he has a check for $150,000 coming," Cindrich said.

For Cindrich, his 3 percent fee was nice, but it cost him an entire bottle of Pepto Bismol to finalize the deal.

Trouble was, Falcons general manager Tom Braatz, loved to drink beer.

"The word about him was if you drink beer with him, you'll go under," Cindrich said. "He could drink all night long and look like a choir boy in the morning. We had three or four meetings and each time, he said, 'Let's have a beer.' I said, 'No, I don't want a beer.' "

Sober, the men failed to come to an agreement. One day, Cindrich invited Braatz to go fishing on an Avella pond that sat on land owned by Cindrich's father.

"I take two cases of Iron City beer, we get hammered and do that deal, probably, within an hourn-and-a-half," Cindrich said.

But before setting out on the water, Cindrich drank a full bottle of Pepto Bismol to coat his stomach.

"I tried to pace myself and he kept shoving them in front of me. It was the first and last time I've ever done that."

RULES MUST BE BROKEN

In world of negotiating, compromise is critical. So, Cindrich compromises some of his values in order to survive — and thrive — in the business.

Two years ago, he said he never would have made arrangements for a client to purchase a car. He does now, just to keep up with rival agents.

"That's so neandarthal, so prehistoric in this business that you can't survive," he said. "That I survived through that amazes me. Whether it's against your good judgement or not, if you don't do that you're not competitive."

Now, Cindrich said the "worst" favor he'll do for a client is arrange for a line of credit and/or a vehicle.

"Even though, if it were my son, I wouldn't do it, but to be competitive, I would do it," he said.

Not that Cindrich has always been a boy scout.

His associate, Greg Diulus, remembers the time when "we out-Al Davised, Al Davis."

It involved the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' desire to trade offensive lineman Paul Gruber to Davis' Raiders at the NFL's trading deadline in 1993.

Gruber didn't want to play for the Raiders, but the Raiders called Cindrich and said, "He's coming to us. Here's the money. That's it."

When the time came for Gruber to sign the papers to finalize the contract and complete the trade, Cindrich purposely had Gruber wait in the Buccaneers' parking lot until after the 4 o'clock trading deadline. Since the trade was officially late, the NFL Players Association voided the deal, and Gruber remained in Tampa for more money, Cindrich said.

Davis' reaction?

"Mad is kind," Cindrich said.

A RICH STABLE

Cindrich and his firm, Cindrich and Company, have flourished for years, but especially since the NFL ventured into the era of free agency in 1993. In the first two years alone, he negotiated more than $120 million worth of contracts, according to his records.

About 10 years ago, The Sporting News compiled a list of the 100 most powerful people in sports. Steelers president Dan Rooney was 37th. Cindrich was 49th. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was 65th.

Cindrich's stable of clients includes some of the highest-paid players in the NFL, including Glenn and Denver Broncos quarterback Brian Griese. Two years ago, the first big-money deal of that year's free-agency signing period went to quarterback Jeff Blake, a Cindrich client who got a four-year, $17 million contract from the New Orleans Saints. Center Jeff Christy got an average of $3.5 million from the Buccaneers. Offensive lineman Harry Swayne got a $5 million signing bonus from the Baltimore Ravens in 1998 when he was 34-years-old.

When Steelers linebacker James Farrior was a rookie with the New York Jets in 1997, Farrior fired his original agent, who couldn't get a signing bonus included in his initial contract. Farrior hired Cindrich, who proceeded to negotiate a $4.02 million signing bonus. Five years later, Steelers officials will tell you that Cindrich's patience while the team ebated whether to re-sign Earl Holmes helped Farrior get the job as Holmes' replacement.

This year, Cindrich represents four of the top offensive lineman in the draft — Ohio State center LeCharles Bentley, Texas A&M center Seth McKinney and Miami guard and tackle Martin Bibla and Joaquin Gonzalez — plus Iowa running back Ladell Betts and Nevada quarterback David Neill.

Perhaps none will get drafted in the first round and Cindrich will have to soothe some hurt feelings if the wait lasts longer than anticipated.

"When they sit and they watch, and they go through the agony of seeing other people drafted, it kills them," he said.

Somehow, Cindrich will find the right words.

Just like he did the other day while speaking to Gonzalez, who has made a good accounting of himself during his pre-draft visits with several NFL teams.

"You're selling your (butt) off, man," he told Gonzalez. "If you don't make it in the football business, we'll make you an agent."

LIST OF CLIENTS

Trev Alberts Former NFL linebacker and CNN/SI football analyst
Kurt Angle WWF wrestler and U.S. Olympic gold medalist
Jeff Blake NFL quarterback
Jeff Christy Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Jeff Christy
Dermontti Dawson Former Steelers center
Roger Duffy Former Steelers offensive lineman
James Farrior Steelers linebacker
Tarik Glenn Indianapolis Colts offensive tackle
Brian Griese Denver Broncos quarterback
Justin Kurpeikis Steelers linebacker
Mark May CBS-TV football commentator
Tom Myslinski Former Steelers offensive lineman
Jerry Olsavsky Former Steelers linebacker
Marc "Bubba" Snider WWF wrestler and producer, WBZZ-FM
Jim Sweeney Former Steelers offensive lineman
Will Wolford Former Steelers offensive lineman