According to NFL lore, future Hall of Fame center Jim Ringo of the Green Bay Packers showed up in coach Vince Lombardi’s office after the 1963 season, seeking a raise. He brought with him an agent, which was an unheard-of negotiating ploy, one that didn’t play well. Lombardi excused himself, left the room and came back after a few minutes to inform Ringo he had been traded to the Eagles.
That story might be embellished – Lombardi supposedly already had been working on a Ringo trade – but it is indicative of the lack of power players held in the league’s fledgling days, and well beyond.