The pioneer of athlete representation, Leigh Steinberg, has stepped down as a Sports Agent and has turned over all of his operations to Bruce and Ryan Tollner. Bruce and Ryan are cousins, not brothers as some may think. Bruce is the child of Ted Tollner who was the former head coach of USC and San Diego State football teams. Ted Tollner has also held a number of NFL coaching positions, most recently as the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions this past year.
REP 1 Sports Group has been formed and will retain all of the clients of the former agency: Tollner, Moon and Steinberg. The Tollners shared the former company with Leigh Steinberg and former quarterback, Warren Moon. Steinberg has more then 25 years under his belt as a Sports Agent and as an entrepreneur within the entertainment industry. In case you were unaware, Steinberg got his start as one of the most successful Sports Agents initially at a college dorm in 1975. The Tollners first joined Steinberg in 2002, about one year after the leave of Steinberg’s former partner David Dunn, who took 50 NFL clients with him. David Dunn’s exit caused a lawsuit in which Dunn had to pay Steinberg $44.6 million because he “unfairly” (or as I will call it “unethically”) competed against his former partner.
As this new era of Sports Agents and agencies emerge, it is our duty to follow the ethical standards which the former agents have left for us. To the Tollners, I wish you the best of luck with the new agency and I hope to be with you on top someday. To Leigh Steinberg, I want to say thank you for everything that you have done for the athlete representation industry! Thanks for allowing the future of Sports Agents to have the ability to read your book Winning with Integrity and for the help in the making of Arli$$ and my favorite movie of all time, Jerry MaGuire. You are a true inspiration to me and many others and this post is dedicated to you. THANK YOU!
Check out Rep 1 Sports Group at www.rep1sports.com (it has also been added to the Pages & Links tab)
–Matthew Vuckovich
5 replies on “The End of The Leighgacy”
What makes you think Leigh Steinberg is done? You need to check your facts. You are obviously ill-informed. IT’s called: RESEARCH. Do some.
I don’t think that you understood what he was saying. If you look at the first paragraph on http://www.rep1sports.com you can clearly see that Steinberg has stepped down and is now just an advisor with the Tollners. “The Tollners have effectively been running our day-to-day operations for some time, and this is a mutually agreed-upon strategy,†Steinberg said last week. “I continue to have a passion for athletic representation and will remain involved,†he said. “However, I am excited about the opportunity to continue to develop projects in marketing, content supply, entertainment and corporate consulting.†You might want to read a little bit before you start to bash people with legit facts!
touché
Thanks for the helpful hint buddy but I happen to work in the industry and actually know what is going on. Despite what your “thorough research” tells you – stay tuned.
John Doe aka Tom Joiner aka Unknown: enough with the “check your facts” statements directed to contributors and commenters. Give something worthwhile instead of just saying that you are in the industry and that more research needs to be done. If you have valuable information leave it here. If you are posting just for the hell of it, then keep it to yourself.