Sentence:  This week hundreds of NFL agents gathered to hear an honorable man talk about a noble pipedream. It was a discussion about a significant step to end one of the cornerstones of corruption in college football: <WSD>runners</WSD>. Not the backs getting their 40 times tested at the scouting combine but the slimeball trolls who work on behalf of agents to help recruit — a generous word — football prospects by illegally giving them cash (or cars or money for family members or rent for a nice house) so the player then signs with the agent upon turning pro. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An employee of a sports agent who tries to recruit possible player clients for the agent.