Who is Ken Francis? Lamar Jackson contract saga takes bizarre turn as NFL warns teams about ‘business partner’
A little over a week into the NFL free agency period, Lamar Jackson remains one of the biggest names out there.
He is reportedly still representing himself without the services of an agent, but the waters turned a bit cloudy on Thursday.
That’s because the NFL, in a strange and unusual memo distributed to all 32 teams, warned about a person named Ken Francis who has reached out to front offices to begin negotiations with Jackson.
“The NFLPA has informed us that a person named Ken Francis is the one not an NFLPA-certified agent, may be contacting clubs and attempting to persuade club personnel to enter into negotiations with or about Lamar Jackson,” the memo said.
It was initially unclear whether Ken Francis was in contact with Jackson or knew him at all.
On Wednesday there were rumors of an “unauthorized representative” informing teams that Jackson was willing to leave the Ravens for the right price. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said the talks were being held “to initiate negotiations aimed at a possible bid sheet.”
MORE: “Unauthorized Reps’ tells teams Lamar Jackson may be ready to move away from Ravens
The league warned that any dealings with Francis would be unsanctioned and therefore unofficial.
“Clubs are reminded that under Article 48 of the NFL collective agreement, an offer sheet that may result in an NFL player contract may only be negotiated with the player if he is acting on his own behalf,” the memo continued. “Breach of this rule may result in the rejection of any offer sheet or resulting player contract made by Mr Jackson and the new club.”
The memo also made it clear that Jackson isn’t currently represented by an agent, so he’s the only person who can negotiate any deals with other teams.
As the plot thickened, it emerged that Jackson knew the man named in the memo. The situation became even more confusing when Lamar Jackson responded on Twitter to Tom Pelissero, who reported that Francis was “a man from Florida who recently came up with a home fitness invention.”
So who is Ken Francis? The Sporting News dives in:
Who is Ken Francis?
Details on Francis are a bit sparse at the moment.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Francis attended Daytona State University in Florida.
But as it turns out, he’s also Lamar Jackson’s business partner. Whether the timing is coincidental or not, within an hour of the memo leaking, Jackson tweeted a promotional video for The Entire Gym starring Jackson.
At this point, it’s safe to assume that “my business partner Ken” is Ken Francis.
Francis is the owner of The Entire Gym, which claims to have “developed a revolutionary fitness product that is compact and portable. Innovatively designed for comfort and durability, The Entire Gym is easy to use and convenient to store anywhere.’
But when reached by ESPN, Francis said, “I don’t speak for Lamar.”
The layers of this onion will surely continue to peel off, but for now, Lamar Jackson continues to represent himself, Ken Francis is his business partner, and the NFL is wary of everything.
Saint Omni vs. Ken Francis
The latest news about the mysterious Ken Francis has many people drawing parallels between Lamar Jackson’s now-revealed “business partner” and Saint Omni, who was at the center of the Roquon Smith drama.
Roquan Smith requested a trade away from the bears on August 9, 2022. Just a week later, he became the subject of further controversy.
On Monday, August 15, the Smith saga took an odd turn when ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio reported that someone representing Smith was “calling other teams to gauge potential trade interests.”
As well as the Ken Francis story, the NFL shared a memo with its 32 teams that Saint Omni was the person they contacted about Smith, stating that he was not certified by the NFLPA to do so.
Saint Omni was listed as LifeLine Financial Group’s director of football in a 2021 Complex article on Laremy Tunsil. The article had a publication date of November 4, 2021 and stated Omni had “helped Tunsil during its renewal negotiations.”
That aligns with what his Facebook page said about him. Omni listed himself on his personal page as a “business consultant and manager to high-profile NFL athletes and celebrities,” according to USA Today.
However, Omni’s page had not been updated for two years at the time USA Today accessed it; it has since been deleted.
LifeLine Financial Group describes itself on its LinkedIn page as “wealth management for athletes, entertainers and world influencers”. Oddly enough, LifeLine Financial Group’s website only leads to a company logo superimposed over a photo of a man writing something, with a child on either side of him.
There are no public records of Omni among the LifeLine employees listed on LinkedIn.
While Omni may be mysterious, he appears to be part of the NFL world — though it remains unclear if he’s a certified agent or some sort of advisor.
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Jacob Camenker and Peter Socotch contributed to this story