Real Winners

The work of an NFL agent doesn’t cry out to be watched. They are contract lawyers whose contracts aren’t very interesting, because the league and players union negotiate the important terms. They shuffle among hotel rooms, stadium tunnels, and steakhouse banquets with cell phones as their most constant companions. And yet they keep finding their way into pop culture. Jerry Maguire proved there was an appetite for them in 1996; that same year, HBO debuted Arli$$, a comedy about a less cuddly Maguire.

In June, HBO went back to the well with Ballers, a series from the creators of Entourage. The half-hour dramedy stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Spencer Strasmore, a former NFL linebacker selling his services as a financial adviser to athletes. Spencer is agent-adjacent. He leaves the paperwork to his former agent while he tells players to “grow up,” “wise the f--- up,” and lease anything that “drives, flies, floats, or f---s.” Because this is Sunday night on HBO (and essentially Entourage rebooted), the straight talk is mostly an excuse to show off bad behavior. Bathroom sex with bottle-service girls, yacht parties, painkillers popped before hard looks in the mirror—it’s all here.