Adrian Peterson’s agent guilty of criminal deprivation of property

By JUSTIN KENDALL

Adrian Peterson

In a Johnson County courtroom on Monday, a powerful sports agent made a plea deal that saved him from going to jail.

Bill Henkel is the sports agent for Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings running back. He’s also the managing partner of 10 Sports Management, a sports marketing firm with offices in Overland Park, Kansas, and Houston, Texas. He represents Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, and images of Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington and New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker also appear on 10 Sports’ Web site.

Bill Henkel

Henkel, who was a marketing executive in IMG Worldwide’s football division until November 2005, was accused of felony commercial bribery and theft for soliciting a kickback in a marketing deal involving San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson three years ago. Neither Tomlinson nor IMG Worldwide, the agency that represents him, knew about Henkel’s side deal. Such a deal was prohibited in Henkel’s employee contract with IMG.