UPON FURTHER REVIEW: AGENT GOES EXTRA MILE FOR CLIENTS.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE 

Thursday was supposed to be an easy day for Kenny Zuckerman. He'd cleared his desk and most of his schedule so he could take off early and start packing for a weekend in Detroit where seven of his clients are playing in Super Bowl XL.

But Zuckerman's best laid plans lasted all of about 10 minutes into lunch. The overwhelmed waiter at the Cheesecake Factory in Sherman Oaks hadn't even brought his iced tea over before Zuckerman's cell phone started ringing.

``Excuse me, I apologize,'' he said. ``But I've got to take this, it's one of my clients.''

Zuckerman always answers his cell phone. That's how you go from being a Birmingham High of Lake Balboa graduate and walk-on football player at the University of Arizona to a big-time NFL agent before any of your hair goes gray.

His cell phone is more like a two-way radio. There's no screening process that goes into answering when an NFL player calls, and no meeting too important to interrupt.

A couple minutes later, he comes back to the table and pops in a cough drop. He's not sick, just losing his voice. When you talk on the phone as much as Zuckerman - at least 5,000 cell phone minutes a month - you can get a little hoarse.

``Sorry, that was one of my players,'' he said. ``He just got his leg rolled up on in practice. It's not that bad, but I've got to get into it.''

In Zuckerman's world, that means the rest of his afternoon will be spent on the phone, calling the team trainer to check on the severity of the injury and discussing treatment options for the next couple of days so the player will be ready to play in the Super Bowl.

``I'm his liaison to everything,'' Zuckerman explains. ``It's four days before the Super Bowl, the team can't change its roster so they're going to want him to play. So he calls me because he knows I'm going look out for his best interests. ''

A few minutes later, Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola calls, wanting to know Zuckerman's plans for the weekend in Detroit.

With seven clients in the Super Bowl - four from the Steelers (offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Marvel Smith, defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen and cornerback Ricardo Colclough) and three from the Seahawks (linebacker Kevin Bentley, a Montclair Prep of Panorama City graduate, offensive lineman Wayne Hunter and defensive end Joe Tafoya) - Zuckerman will have a packed itinerary in Detroit.

But Zuckerman isn't really the party type. Sure, he has the requisite number of designer jeans in his closet to be considered cool by an NFL player. Designer jeans and an IZOD button- up shirt are his normal work attire. He only owns one suit and one tuxedo.

But being cool isn't how Zuckerman gets - and keeps - his clients.

``If a guy wants an agent who's going to get him into all the best parties, that's not me,'' he said. ``We attract the kind of guys that are more concerned with their futures. Guys who appreciate that we're going to take care of them, that we follow through with what we say we're going to do.''

Zuckerman is never going to be Drew Rosenhaus, Terrell Owens' brash, controversial agent. He'd rather be the guy who helps Steelers offensive lineman Smith find a nice house in Santa Clarita on his rookie-contract salary, or a special Valentine's Day present for his fiancee.

``He does everything,'' Smith said. ``I ask him for some weird stuff sometimes, but he always comes through. My rookie year, I really wanted this new PlayStation, but you couldn't find it anywhere because it was just released. Kenny spent all day bidding for it on EBay and got it.''

Zuckerman also came through for Smith at the negotiating table. Two years ago, he negotiated a 5-year, $25.5 million dollar extension with a $6-million dollar signing bonus for Smith.

``One day I'm doing a contract extension for $25.5 million dollars, the next, I'm finding him a PlayStation,'' Zuckerman said. ``But even though it's a PlayStation, it's as important to him as anything.''

Zuckerman's agency, Chicago and Sherman Oaks-based Priority Sports and Entertainment, has negotiated close to $1 billion in contracts over the past three years. It was one of only four agencies to be rated in the top 10 in ESPN.com's annual draft agent derby for three years in a row.

``He's a really good guy. Sometimes, in that business, you wonder how much some of those guys really care about their players. But there's no question with Kenny. He genuinely cares about his clients,'' said Martin Mayhew, Lions senior vice president and assistant general manager.

``We've worked together on a number of deals, and I think we both have a mutual respect for each other. You know he's going to fight for his clients, but he's a smart guy who knows when pushing for that extra 10 bucks is going to damage a relationship. So he goes right up to that point, but knows not to cross it.''

On Sundays, Zuckerman is something of a TiVo addict. He's got several of them in his house, and they're all recording different games.

Afterward, he gets calls from players asking how they played. As a former wide receiver at Arizona, he has a deeper understanding of the Xs and Os in an NFL game than most agents.

``I call him after almost every game to see how I played,'' said Raiola, a five-year veteran center from the University of Nebraska. ``He's pretty honest. He'll tell me what I could've done better, what I did well. He knows the game.''

If this all sounds like more than what you thought a sports agent did, get in line right behind Zuckerman.

``I did not know what this all entailed when I first started,'' he admitted. ``Back then, it wasn't as detailed. It was more like, this is the guy who took care of you and gets you paid.

``But it's so much more than that. I wear about five hats; therapist, adviser, business manager, contract negotiator, parental figure. ... But this is what I do. I don't really know any different.''

Vacations must be scheduled around the NFL season. His cell phone is always on, day or night, unless he's on a plane. And on this day, there's little hope of clearing his schedule for the rest of the afternoon.

``That's OK,'' he said. ``My flight's not until tomorrow morning.''

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