Faith-based talent representation agency Divine Sports and Entertainment has added two new employees. NFLPA certified agent and former NFLer Jovan Barnes joined the agency as its new president of football and partner. Michelle “Shelly” Schmidt, a 30-year industry veteran, will act as Divine’s new head of client Services. Both will be based in Fort Wayne, Ind.
As part of the move, more than 10 NFL clients Barnes represented with his father, Roosevelt Barnes, at their former agency, Independent Sports and Entertainment, will still be co-represented by the pair despite Jovan Barnes’ flip to Divine. The pair most notably represent Seahawks DL Leonard Williams, who was listed as the 99th best player on the NFL’s top 100 list.
Barnes will complete many of the same duties he had at ISE, but in an expanded role where he will oversee NFL contract advising, NIL dealings, marketing, client services and more.
“This will be a great challenge and I’m ready for it. It seemed like it was a perfect fit,” he said. “This is a new frontier for me and I’m connecting with some other great young men going down this path. It’s been a great journey so far and I feel like I’m just getting started.”
Schmidt, who also worked at ISE, will be in charge of many of the same tasks she led before like NFL Combine, Pre‑Draft support, off‑the-field life management, sourcing and negotiating brand deals as well as Hall of Fame and post‑career support. Schmidt has been a strong behind-the-scenes advocate for Pro Football HOFers Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson and Devin Hester, as well as dozens more former NFLers.
“At the end of the day, I look back and we represent big people. We’re faith-based and we’re blessed because these guys [clients] are good guys. I’m the bulldog behind these guys,” Schmidt said. “I love what I do. I love to be involved and I’m not going anywhere.”
The N.Y.-based agency was co-founded in 2017 by NFLPA agents Michael DeSane and Ryan Williams-Jenkins. With the addition of Barnes, the agency now employs six NFLPA certified agents and one NIL agent. In total, the company employs at least 12 individuals. Divine has negotiated over $1B in NFL contracts, $3M in NIL contracts and $10M off marketing deals. The agency helps to represent four Pro Football HOFers (Hester, Woodson, Walter Jones and Derrick Brooks), five college football players and over 20 NFL clients. More will be announced in the coming weeks with the addition of Barnes’ clients.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.sportsbusinessjournal.com ’
