Leigh Steinberg
Leigh Steinberg
Leigh William Steinbergis an American sports agent. During his 41-year career, Steinberg has represented over 300 professional athletes in football, baseball, basketball, boxing, and Olympic sports. He has represented the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft a record eight times, a milestone unmatched within the sports industry. Steinberg is later credited as the real life inspiration of the sports agent from Cameron Crowe's film Jerry Maguire in 1996...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth27 March 1949
CountryUnited States of America
Forty years ago the chances of journalists reporting - or the authorities even prosecuting - a pro athlete were practically nil.
In reality, we can prove that the incidents of drug, alcohol abuse and violence have dropped dramatically among professional athletes - but the problem is it would be impossible to convince than fans, because of what they read on the AP wire.
Challenge yourself, its fine not to be a totally finished person.
Hey, our Founding Fathers wore long hair and powdered wigs - I don't see anybody trying to look like them today, either... But we do look to them as role models.
I have to say that it was a very strange experience when, later in life, I represented Byron Scott and was negotiating with West - whose picture I used to have over my bed! That took some getting used to.
There's never a benefit to bragging too much about a deal because the only sure thing is that I'm probably going to be dealing with that same general manager or that same person over and over again.
So George Burns and my grandpa took me to my first baseball game.
You know, we don't look much alike, but Denzel Washington would make a great sports agent.
When it came to football there was a certain age where I realized that my future in football was being a grease spot on the side of some bigger player.
People who have addictive problems usually have some subset of emotional difficulties that causes them to abuse substances.
Now some alien force seems to have come and captured the Dodgers. I don't know what happened to my Dodgers.
My grandfather was running Hillcrest Country Club, and that's where a whole group of Hollywood comedians hung out.
It's learning how to negotiate to keep both sides happy - whether it's for a multi-million dollar contract or just which show to watch on TV, that determines the quality and enjoyment of our lives.
For a generation that gets most of its information off a computer screen (be it Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter or what have you), an athlete has to be very careful about the public/private aspect of that. Be careful not to be overly critical, be careful with use of language, and understand the whole world is watching.