Waukeen McCoy is shifting the landscape in the sports world — both on the field and behind the scenes.
A lawyer by trade, and a sports agent for the love of the game, McCoy is one of the most powerful forces in the realm of athletics, one of this year’s Outsports Power 100 honorees.
And he is optimistic about a bright future for a diverse range of athletes.
McCoy has been a practicing lawyer for over three decades, successfully winning litigation cases against Fortune 500 companies like Apple, AT&T, and Coca-Cola.
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In 2008, McCoy successfully argued in defense of same-sex marriage, which lead to the brief legalization of same-sex marriage in California that year before Proposition 8 was passed by voters.
McCoy now runs his own legal practice — McCoy Law Firm — and is partnered with Overtime Sports Management Group, for which he helps recruit new players top represent in the NFL, NBA, FIBA, and MLB.
It’s hard to nail down McCoy’s routine, as each day brings something different.
“I go out and recruit the players from college, or players who are free agents, and then I represent them and attempt to get them on a team,” McCoy told Outsports. “I talk to them over generally their last couple of college years, when they’re juniors or seniors.
“And then, if they like me and we trust each other, after their eligibility ends — which is either their end of their junior year or senior year — then they sign an agreement with me, which is a standard representation agreement.”
After the signing process, McCoy sends athletes out to training — “for example, for the NFL Draft.” From there, McCoy is with his clients every step of the way, going through the NFL Draft process and signing their legal agreements.
On the legal side, McCoy helps each of his clients negotiate their contracts.
McCoy’s passion for sports began as a teenager in his hometown of Tatum, Texas. In high school, McCoy played football, basketball, tennis and ran track.
He would later earn his B.A. from San Francisco State University and his legal degree (JD) from the University of California’s Hastings College of Law.
Meanwhile, McCoy’s cousin – retired NFL fullback Larry Centers – had been dominating on the gridiron for stints with the Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots.
“I followed [Centers’] career and talked to him, gave him some legal advice along the way, and the discussion came up about helping players from our hometown,” McCoy said. “My hometown has a population of about 1500 people. We had some players that came out of there and didn’t know a mentor, didn’t know a lawyer, didn’t know a sports agent.
“I know I didn’t when I was there and growing up. So he and I got to talking about it, and I just decided that it would be great for me to basically reach back and help those players who were coming out of my hometown.”
In 2012, McCoy launched Genuine Sports Group. He has been working with athletes ever since.
Through his work with GSG, as well as OSMG, McCoy has helped many athletes get signed by pro teams, including Caleb Chapman with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Taki Taimani with the Minnesota Vikings, Willie Roberts with the Seattle Seahawks, and more.
Over the years, McCoy has been a guiding force for many athletes throughout various stages of their careers.
One of the biggest mistakes he sees young athletes make in the early stages of their career is prioritizing money over their love of the sport.
“I just think a lot of athletes have been put on a pedestal for a long time, and some of them think more about money than anything else,” McCoy said. “And I just think that is a mistake, because it gears the player in the wrong direction.”
McCoy is adamant about not mixing business and personal matters. However, as someone who has advocated for LGBTQ+ people and their rights, he believes people in the sports world have slowly but surely diversified the playing field.
He notes that “some players are still afraid to come out.”
Yet the conversation about LGBTQ+ players in sports is changing. While McCoy believes most fans are supportive of LGBTQ+ athletes — or, at the very least, indifferent — he cites an internal culture issue as the main concern.
“We saw the text messages and emails from the executives with the Washington Commanders,” McCoy said. “I think it’s more internal, and it’s old school. A lot of these owners are old folks, and they just are used to the tough and masculine male.
“When you’re talking about male athletes — A lot of players are from the South and very conservative, and they grew up with very conservative families.”
But as out LGBTQ+ agents, lawyers, and representatives slowly emerge to help spearhead American sports culture, McCoy believes that diversity from within will, in time, reflect on the field and on the court.
“The more representation you have of people in the industry that are open, it helps tremendously with other folks who feel comfortable about themselves being open.”
You can follow Waukeen McCoy on Instagram.
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