From agent rooms to NFL front offices, from Green Bay to Sports Illustrated, from Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers to NIL and the next generation of sports leaders, Andrew Brandt tells the stories, lessons, and unexpected turns from a career spent behind the game.
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Chicago, Wisconsin, and Philadelphia this fall. Andrew speaks before every signing, so come for the talk and bring your questions about the cap, the CBA, NIL, or whatever your team just did.
Free and open to the public. More stops being added.
From negotiating with Brett Favre and drafting Aaron Rodgers to navigating Ricky Williams' roller-coaster career to helping launch the NFL's European expansion, Brandt's journey offers a masterclass in how sports really work.
Draft night, 2005.
The Packers pick twenty-fourth.
Aaron Rodgers has been waiting in the green room for nearly five hours.
The card goes in.
Lambeau Field, watching the broadcast, boos loud enough to shake the building.
Brett Favre is still the quarterback.
The room knows what just changed.
An excerpt from Smarter About Sports.
The conversations. The calls. The decisions. The strange turns. The pressure. The humor. The lessons that only become clear after years of living inside the world most fans only see from the outside.
The people behind the deals.
Before Andrew worked inside an NFL front office, he was on the other side of the table.
The agent years brought him close to athletes, families, coaches, teams, leverage, trust, disappointment, and opportunity. These were the years of David Falk, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Muggsy Bogues, Boomer Esiason, Ricky Williams, Master P, and the unpredictable world of representing elite athletes.
The stories are not only about contracts. They are about people, pressure, timing, and the complicated reality of careers that can change with one draft pick, one injury, one phone call, or one decision.
Not just a job. A public trust.
For nine years, Andrew worked inside one of the most unique organizations in American sports.
The Green Bay Packers are not just another NFL franchise. They are a small-town team with a national following, a public institution, and a community identity. Inside that environment, every decision carried weight.
Andrew writes about life behind the green-and-gold curtain, including the Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers years, the pressure of roster decisions, and what it meant to help steward a franchise that belongs to something bigger than one owner.
Turning experience into perspective.
After Green Bay, Andrew did not leave sports. He found new rooms.
Through Sports Illustrated, ESPN, his podcast, newsletter, Villanova, consulting, and NIL work, Andrew became one of the rare voices who could take complicated moments and make them clear without losing the human side.
This part of the story is about reinvention: taking years of experience from agent rooms and front office rooms and using it to help fans, students, athletes, families, universities, and readers understand what is really happening around the games they love.
Every chapter of this book turns on some combination of all three.
From a kid’s formative years to the rooms where the deals get made — with a foreword by Bob Ley.
"When I looked for someone to write about the business of football, there was only one choice. Andrew quickly established himself as an elevated voice in our industry. He educates through stories that only he can tell and gives true sobriety to a crazy business. He makes us 'smarter about sports' — and this book does the same on every page."
Peter KingThree-time National Sportswriter of the Year"Andrew was an invaluable sidekick to me in the resurrection of the Green Bay Packers, the crown jewel of the NFL."
Ron WolfHall of Famer · Former Packers GM"Andrew was my trusted associate representing NBA and NFL players, and the only person I know to have seen the sports world from virtually every angle. A must-read for sports fans of all ages and interests."
David FalkFalk Associates · Former NBA super agent"Andrew has knowledge and perspective that is unique and unparalleled. He's been an incredible asset to Villanova basketball and our athletics department."
Jay WrightNaismith Hall of Fame · Two-time national champion"Andrew's measured, nuanced, and unbiased perspective — combined with real stories from his time working on every side of the sports business. Smarter About Sports is a must-read."
Ross TuckerFormer NFL offensive lineman · Emmy-nominated broadcaster
Andrew was my first NFL agent, then negotiated contracts with me on the Packers' behalf, and later we were teammates again at ESPN. I have witnessed firsthand his intelligence, honesty, and elite storytelling ability — now everyone can witness it.Matt HasselbeckFormer NFL quarterback · ESPN analyst
"So often, that choice was obvious, simple, and recurrent. Get Andrew Brandt. Now."
“This is the first book I’ve read in 25 years from cover to cover and I did it in 3 days. Andrew uses his talent of story telling to educate, motivate and provide a first-hand account into his life and the life of the Business of Sports.”
DomVerified Amazon review · Hardcover“I have followed Andrew Brandt for last 10 years through his various media roles and he truly makes you ‘Smarter about Sports’ without speaking over you, in layman terms with easy to digest real-life stories.”
Steve CapeVerified Amazon review · Hardcover“A fantastic read with surprising and interesting sports stories, revelations of how sports businesses operate, excellent tactics for negotiating, and so well written I couldn’t put the book down!”
Donald M. HarrisVerified Amazon review · Hardcover“An enjoyable and enlightening read, packed with interesting stories from the author’s experiences as an agent, team executive, consultant, and academic that serve the reader to understand the inner workings of the sports industry.”
PeterVerified Amazon review · Hardcover“I was especially intrigued by the stories of the World League and Andrew’s experience in Green Bay with the Packers. However, my favorite part might be Andrew sharing his life philosophies.”
TLedVerified Amazon review · Hardcover“Great book, great stories, and great insight into how the sausage is made.”
bdp87321Verified Amazon review · HardcoverRead every review on Amazon.
For die-hard NFL fans and curious spectators alike. For readers who care less about the score and more about the rooms where the score gets made.
Smarter About Sports is Andrew Brandt's memoir of a life spent around athletes, agents, executives, media, the Packers, NIL, and the moments behind the games people love.
Out now from Triumph Books. Hardcover and Kindle.