TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 30 /PRNewswire/ — Four of the first eight picks in last weekend’s National football League draft — headlined by top pick Jake Long of Michigan and number three selection Matt Ryan of Boston College — and 26 of the 99 players chosen in the first three rounds headed to their new teams after completing intensive Media Training sessions led by former Sports Illustrated associate editor and established media coach Don Yaeger and his Tallahassee-based team.
Jake Long, selected first overall by the Miami Dolphins, said the session with Yaeger helped him feel more confident in interview settings. “Every time I do an interview or am in the public eye, I will be able to use what you taught here,” Long said of his session with Yaeger.
It was the second year in a row that Yaeger () has served as media coach to the draft’s Number 1 pick — and the second year in a row that a full one-third of the top picks had been through his program. In the last year, Yaeger and his team also have worked with numerous major university athletic programs — including Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and Kansas State.
“Twenty years ago, players were drafted solely on their athletic ability,” Yaeger said. “Now the most desirable draftees also portray a positive image and are able to communicate effectively. Our work with those players is intended to teach each player that he is a unique brand and that everyone — including NFL teams — want to align themselves with the best brands on the market. Teams know their players’ brands reflect directly on their own, so they are choosing much more carefully.”
Yaeger’s 180 Communications () team partners with Athletes’ Performance Institute () to produce a winning combination. API is a combine-prep center with facilities in Tempe, Ariz., Los Angeles and Gulf Breeze, Fla., that focuses on enhancing performance on the field and recognizes the value of Media Training off of it.
Yaeger and his 180 team have taken a modern and original spin on Media Training by connecting with players on a personal level and encouraging them to develop “Brand You.” Yaeger also stresses the benefits of treating media interviews as business opportunities to help define a player’s brand and connect them with their desired audience.
The list of players Yaeger trained in this year’s draft included top-15 selections Vernon Gholston of Ohio State, Ryan Clady of Boise State and Jonathan Stewart of Oregon.
“When you’re doing interviews, you want to be able to focus on one thing,” Gholston, selected sixth overall by the New York Jets, said when asked what he learned during the training. “It’s nice to be able to come back to your brand words or concepts to keep your mind focused.”
Although branding is the main objective of Yaeger’s Media Training, he also helps players expand their communication and life skills through established and new methods.
“API imported Yaeger to help with an underrated part of the combine process — the 15 minute individual interview players do with teams,” Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote last year. “Yaeger dug up dirt from these kids’ MySpace pages, Googled their names and found out anything else he might find to try to trip up these kids.”
For more information on the training of these players, please contact Don Yaeger or Jim Henry at (850) 412-0300.
180 Communications