Athletes attract recruiters with video resumes

A Serra High School football coach praises Brady on his video

December 25, 1997
Web posted at: 10:05 p.m. EST (0305 GMT)

From Correspondent Don Knapp

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- On New Year's Day, Tom Brady Jr. will be playing for the University of Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Talent and hard work put him on the team -- but it was a videotaped resume that may have opened the door.

Brady's high school, Serra High in San Mateo, California, is not a place big-school football recruiters often visit. So to promote his son's best gridiron efforts, Brady's dad, Tom Sr., spent $2,000 to put together a videotape designed to catch a recruiter's eye.

The elder Brady thinks the $2,000 tape was a bargain, given that a full-ride scholarship at Michigan is worth about $120,000.

Tom Brady Jr.
Quicktime Video See Tom Brady, Jr.'s resume tape. 2.2M/27 sec./240x180 1M/27 sec./160x120

The Bradys aren't the only family to use videotapes in this fashion. For instance, the University of California at Berkeley gets hundreds of tapes a year. While many have been solicited by recruiters, about one in four simply show up in the mail.

Some people are even hiring professional cameramen and editors, such as Dave Pullman, to create the videos.

For $500, Pullman puts together an athlete's best moments, along with interviews and even his or her favorite music.

"I can make you look better than you can make yourself look," Pullman says.

However, while the video resume may offer an advantage in attracting attention, even Pullman admits that the best video can't compensate for a lack of talent.

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.