Who is Nicole Lynn? The trailblazing Black woman behind Jalen Hurts’ historic deal

On Monday, Jalen Hurts etched his name in NFL history books, securing a record-breaking five-year, $255 million contract and becoming the highest-paid player in the league. This landmark includes a whopping $179.3 million guaranteed and a no-trade clause; binding Hurts to the Philadelphia Eagles until 2028. 

Meet the Black woman who negotiated the Philadelphia quarterback’s impressive $255 million contract. (Photos: Getty Images)

Even more impressive is that a Black woman, Nicole Lynn, negotiated the deal.  

“So happy for my little bro @jalenhurts on becoming the highest paid player in NFL history!” Lynn said in an Instagram post. “Thank you for trusting me with something of this magnitude. I remember sitting in your old high school interviewing to be your agent. I am a dreamer, but I’m not sure I could have ever imagined THIS is where we land.”

The partnership between Hurts and his agent is nothing short of groundbreaking. At just 34 years old, Nicole Lynn is not only a prominent figure in the industry but has made history in more ways than one. After starting her career as an NFL agent in 2015, she quickly made a name for herself as the first woman to join PlayersRep, one of the league’s top agencies at the time. Little did she know that years later, one Instagram DM would lead her to become the first woman of any ethnicity to represent a Super Bowl starting quarterback.

“Hey, have you picked an agent? If not, I’d love to link,” Lynn told Sports Illustrated, recalling the moment she pitched Hurts. 

Wanting to hear her out, the impulsive Instagram message prompted Hurts, wrapping up his collegiate career at the time, to invite Lynn in for an interview; the rest was history. 

“I know the agent world in the NFL, and all sports, is very male-dominated,” said Hurts in a 2022 Sports Illustrated interview. “But Nicole was really on top of her stuff. She was prepared. She knew what she was talking about. She was hungry. And she was determined. And I feel that determination like that never rests. Once you come across such a determined individual, that just hits me a little different.”

Today, Lynn, who also serves as the president of football at large for Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group, understands her impact on her clients and other Black women in sports. Research shows 65.1% of sports agents in the industry are white. Strikingly, women constitute only 23% of all NFL agents in the United States, with a mere 7.5% being Black agents of any gender. 

“What I do as an agent is already unique because I am a Black woman. I’m a woman,” Lynn shared with Essence magazine, which features Hurts as the cover star of its 2023 Men’s Issue. “I’m in the 1% of all 900 certified agents. But even for a White male, repping quarterbacks is upper-echelon.”

Black women have continually shown Hurts love on social media. It’s safe to say the appreciation is mutual.

“I admire anyone who puts their head down and works for what they want. And I know women who do that daily, but they don’t get the same praise as men — they don’t get the praise that they deserve,” Hurts told Sports Illustrated. “I’ve seen that now with tons of different women in my life that are hustlers. Athletes, coaches, women in the business world of sports. I see it all the time. And they deserve their flowers too.”

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